2DArtist Magazine Issue 023 Novemberr 2007

Issue023 November 2007 $4.50 / €3.24 / £2.
25
Artist
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s s a b l issing
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t lips w
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to pain
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by Anna P
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latest tutor
our
Read
Articles
Infinite Oz’s ‘ Tin Man’, Sketchbook by Noi Inthavong & more
Interviews
Elena Sedova, Dr CM Wong, Nathaniel West & Dwayne Vance
Galleries
Benita Winckler, David Munoz Velazquez, Bruno Werneck & more
Making Ofs
‘Speed Runners’ by Joel Carlo & ‘Work Makes One Free’ by Brian Recktenwald
Tutorials
‘Elements: Weather’ by Carlos Cabrera, ‘Painting Lips Worth Kissing’ by Anne Pogoda
Contents
Editorial Contents
Welcome to the 23rd What’s in this Month:
issue of 2DArtist
Elena Sedova 006
magazine. We have New York Based Artist
a jam-packed issue
for you this month,
Dr CM Wong 015
CEO of Opus Artz
including not one
but three artists Nathaniel West 023
Freelance Illustrator and Designer
giving their individual
interpretations of Dwayne Vance 033
our Speed Painting Owner of FutureElements
Challenge topic! Turn

Sketchbook 044
to page 93 to see how Of Noi Inthavong
the very talented Emrah
Elmasli, Mike Corriero
Infinite OZ - Tin Man 049
Nine Artists From Around The World Collaborate
and Mikko Kinnunen
have all tackled the brief, “The citizens of the flooded city now resided in Time out! 055
How do You Take Time Out from CG/Art?
the tallest buildings connected by makeshift bridges”. Also, don’t miss
Anne Pogoda’s latest instalment on page 118, where she teaches us “how Galleries 060
to paint lips worth kissing”! (Be sure to check out Anne’s previous tutorials 10 of the Best 2D Artworks
for 2DArtist in our back issues 19 and 20, where she taught us how to paint
beautiful hair.) We have a special feature on the ingenious new Infinite Oz
Stylised Characters 069
This Month’s Finalists/Last Month’s Making Ofs
website, which is well worth a look on page 49 (be sure to see the website,
too: http://www.scifi.com/tinman/oz/). It’s pretty much inspiration all-
Custom Brushes 087
By Mike Lim, aka Daarken
round this month, with four great interviews with a diverse range of artists,
plus so much more! So get your Wacom out and start painting! Speed Painting 093
‘The Citizens of the Flooded City...’
Enjoy! Ed. Creating & Applying 104

Scanned Textures to Your 2D Artwork
Editor Content Elements 111

Lynette Clee Tom Greenway Digitally Painting ‘Rainstorms’
Lynette Clee
Lead Warin Greenway
Kissable Lips 118
Designer Richard Tilbury

Painting Kissable Lips by Anne Pogoda
Chris Perrins Chris Perrins Speed Runners 125

Project Overview by Joel Carlo
Layout Free Stuff!
Bobby Brown Wherever you see Work Makes one Free 130
this symbol, click it to Project Overview by Brian Reckentwald
Marketing download resources,
About us 145
Lynette Clee extras and even
Zoo Publishing Information & Contacts
movies!
Magazine Viewing Tips For optimum viewing of the magazine it is recommended that you have the
latest Acrobat Reader installed. Download it for free, here: DOWNLOAD. To view the many double-page spreads featured
in 2DArtist magazine, you can set the reader to display ‘two-up’, which will show double-page spreads as one large,
landscape image. 1. Open the magazine in Reader; 2. Go to the ‘View’ menu, then ‘Page display’; 3. Select ‘Two-up
Continuous’, making sure that ‘Show Cover Page’ is also selected.
www.2dartistmag.com page Issue 023 November 2007

Contributors
Elena
Sedova
Is a New York based artist.
Elena has over 15 years of
work experience. She draws
illustrations for magazines and
children’s books. In her art, she uses variety of styles
and techniques. Elena creates animated characters
Contributing Artists
Every month, many creatives and artists from around the world contribute
and brings them to live. Her unique artistic abilities
have also been shown in many art galleries all over
the world!
to 3DCreative & 2DArtist Magazine. Here you can read all about them. If
you would like to be a part of 3DCreative or 2DArtist Magazines, info@rabbitteam.com
please contact: lynette@zoopublishing.com. www.elenasedova.com
Dr CM. Nathaniel
Wong West
Has over 8 years of creative Is a freelance illustrator
visualisation and pre-production and designer residing in
experience, having worked Los Angeles. He acts as an
on various independent game integral part of many exciting
projects, publications and CGI pre-production projects all around the world, which include themed
artwork. He is currently the CEO of his own digital art entertainment, films and video games. He is currently
studio, Opus Artz, based in London. Previous work focusing on Production Design for feature films,
includes his role as Senior Concept Artist and Visual as well as continuing to work with clients to design
Lead for ‘Infinity: The Quest for Earth MMO 2009’, meaningful spaces on various freelance projects.
plus numerous commercial publications.
chee@opusartz.com nathanielbwest@aol.com
www.opusartz.com www.nathanielwest.net
Dwayne Would You Like To Contribute To

Vance 3DCreative Or 2DArtist Magazine?
Has worked professionally as a
We are always looking for tutorial artists, gallery submissions, potential
designer for companies such as
interviewees, Making Of writers and more. For more information, send a
Mattel in Hot Wheels, and has
link to your work here: lynette@zoopublishing.com.
also designed protective gear
for Troy Lee Designs. Now he has his own company,
called “FutureElements”, and creates work for the
motorsports, entertainment and auto industries.
He also has his own line of Hot Rod art which is
influenced by his concept design background. For
more info on his company, check out his website!
www.futureelements.net
vancedwa@sbcglobal.net

Contributors
Mikko Joel
Kinnunen Carlo
Is an Environment and Concept Is a multimedia developer
Artist for Recoil Games in residing out in Denver,
Finland. He currently works in Colorado. His career as an
the games industry where he artist has spanned over the last
specialises in creating environment concepts and 14 years and includes work in both traditional and
in-game 3D assets for next-gen platforms. He’s digital media, web design, print, and motion graphics
currently living in Helsinki, Finland. for broadcasting. His client list is varied and ranges
from commissioned work for small studio projects to
larger clients such as Future Publishing, Burrows &
Chapin, The Ayzenberg Group, NASCAR, Dodge,
mikko@artbymikko.com Toyota and Fox Television.
http://www.artbymikko.com joelcarlo@gmail.com www.joelcarlo.net
Anne Emrah
Pogoda Elmasli
Is a 2D artist working on Is a Turkish Concept Artist
concepts, illustrations and based in London, UK. He’s
such. She graduated from the working at Lionhead Studios
Art Akademy and now works as a full-time Senior Concept
freelance in Berlin, Germany. Anne made her first Artist. Before coming to UK, he was a freelance
attempts at digital art in 2003. For 3 years she has artist living in Istanbul, Turkey, and was working
been working on 2D illustrations and concept art with for various clients like Crystal Dynamics, Irrational
a Wacom Graphire in Photoshop and Painter. She Games, CGToolkit and Fantasy Flight Games,
will also be learning ZBrush 3 and Maya and would as well as ad agencies in Istanbul. He then found
like to do some game or film related stuff later. himself in the UK. He draws everyday and enjoys the
wpwebmasterin@web.de city in his spare time.
www.darktownart.de emrah@partycule.com www.partycule.com
Daarken Mike
After graduating from the Corriero
Academy of Art University in Is a Freelance Concept Artist
San Francisco with a BFA in & Illustrator from NJ, USA.
traditional illustration, Daarken Currently, Mike produces assets
began his career by freelancing as a Freelance artist for various
with several game companies, such as Wizards companies, including everything
of the Coast, Fantasy Flight Games, Widescreen from creatures, environments, structures, illustrations
Games, Digital Extremes, and Upperdeck. He now and icons. His work has been featured in a number
works for EA Mythic as a concept artist for the game, of promotional outlets including ImagineFX, Ballistic
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Publishing’s Expose 4 and 5 and Painter Book, Corel
Painter X and Design 360 (China).
daarkenart@daarken.com mikecorriero@gmail.com
http://www.daarken.com/ www.mikecorriero.com

David Patri
Neale Balanovsky
Started using Photoshop whilst Is a Production/Concept Artist
doing his Illustration degree in at PitchiPoy Animation Studios,
Hull, UK, & has taught himself Tel-Aviv, in Israel. He’s been
from there onwards. After drawing & painting since he can
graduating in 2005, he has worked as a freelance remember; creating characters, creatures & fantastic
consultant for EA games, sold prints in galleries, scenes has always been a passion of his. Telling a
& has completed various freelance projects in the whole story through a single image can be quite a
illustration field. Now represented by Advocate challenge, but he’s always up for it! Keeping his work
Illustration Agency, he hopes to get more work on fresh & versatile, he explores all sorts of genres,
children’s books & would also like to move into styles & attitudes.
concept design for animation at some point in future. Pat2005b@hotmail.com
davejneale@hotmail.com http://chuckmate.blogspot.com
Noi Brian
Inthavong Recktenwald
Is a freelance artist who Is currently working at
graduated from Amarillo LucasArts in San Francisco as
College with a degree in a 3D Environment Artist. He
Graphic Design. He’s been graduated from the Savannah
drawing and painting since middle school and has College of Art & Design with a concentration in Visual
worked with 3D tools before, but his main interest Effects. Even though his focus is on 3D content
is in digital painting. He loves watching things come creation, he has a strong foundation and passion
alive with each brush-stroke. He tries to sharpen for painting both on canvas and digitally. In his 2D
his skills by taking part in painting competitions on and 3D works, he attempts to tell a story using a
ConceptArt.org. cinematic approach.
noiinthavong@hotmail.com breckten@gmail.com
www.3thumbsup.0catch.com www.brianrecktenwald.com
image by Nathaniel West

Elena Sedova was born and grew up in Russia.
“I have no specific style
She finished art school and art college, and
in my art; I have no
then went on to graduate from the Academy of
boundaries; I am always
Arts. She is now living in New York where she
tryingInterview
to vary Elena
andSedova
expand
creates characters, illustrations for children’s
my artistic abilities and
books, and her own personal artistic projects.
try something new. This
Read on to find out what makes Elena tick as
probably happens because
an artist and what we can expect from her in the
I hate routine...”
future...
Elena Sedova Interview
Hello Elena, can you tell us a bit about what has

led you to where we find you today?
Hey! At present, I’m living in New York, USA.
I love New York! All my life I dreamt about this
city, and about a year ago or so my wishes
finally came true! So I am truly happy now. I
work as a freelancer; I am trying to enjoy my job
and I do only what I really like to, which is mostly
character creation, illustrations for children’s
books and my personal artistic projects.
Actually, everything began in Russia, where

I was born and grew up. My parents are also
artists so I didn’t have too many options when
choosing my occupation. Besides, I’ve always
liked drawing ever since the moment I was born.
In Russia, I finished art school and art college,
and I am also a graduate from the Academy

of Arts. Actually, I was meant to become a
classical artist, to paint on canvas using real oil
and acrylic colours, but I always liked computers
so I decided to become a graphic designer and
went to work for an advertising agency, instead.
My drawing skills were then forgotten for the
following few years.
One day, I realised that I couldn’t take it any

more, and that I couldn’t be a designer - it’s all
too boring for me! From that point onwards, I
wanted to become an artist-illustrator, and to
spend time doing those things that I like the
most in my life.

Interview Elena Sedova
Your portfolio (www.elenasedova.com) routine, not only in my art but in my personal
demonstrates a variety of different styles and life, too. I also like to make changes quite
techniques. Can you talk us through your often. I like to invent new drawing styles
favourite method, from the concept through to and techniques; sometimes I prefer to work
the finished piece? in a vector-based application, sometimes
I have no specific style in my art; I have no just in Photoshop. In my opinion, technical
boundaries; all the time I am trying to vary and implementation of the idea is not as important
expand my artistic abilities and try something as the mood and spirit of the artwork itself. As
new. This probably happens because I hate for me, the most interesting part of my work is to
bring an idea or a character to life – the rest is

just a routine job. Speaking about my favourite
and most desirable application for 99% of my
sketches, drafts and illustrations, though, it is
always Photoshop! Photoshop forever!
For example, in the image titled “Fiery Jack”, the

sketch was drawn in Photoshop and finished in
Adobe Illustrator. Sometimes I draw the quick,
rough sketches – it doesn’t take too much time
but it helps me to lay down some of the ideas
that run in my head and to catch the right mood.
I hope to complete them later, but unfortunately,
very often, the sketches remain uncompleted.
I must confess that the way in which I work is

not exactly the ‘right’ way. For me, the major
points in my art are the character, the mood
and the inspiration, but not the composition
or layout of the drawing. That’s why, in my
illustrations, the “hero” comes first and then I
work on the environment that actually has to
highlight the character’s mood. During this long
process many interesting details are discovered
that take a very valuable part in my drawing...
but certainly not ‘less valuable’ than the main
composition. I also like to add some little “spicy”
nuances, which are perhaps not noticeable upon
first glance but later on you can learn a lot about
the character from them!
Let’s take the following illustration, of an old

man holding a lizard, as an example to discuss
the creation of one of my artworks… For the last
couple of years, I haven’t used pencil and paper.

Elena Sedova Interview
From start to finish, I do everything using my Wacom tablet and Adobe

Photoshop. So I create a new document in Photoshop and choose the So
background colour. Then the sketch is drawn. Quite often I do not bother as
myself by drawing black and white drafts; the coloured sketches come
out straight away! Usually I take certain details, like a nose or an eye, as
a starting point for my drawing, and then follow up on that. This artwork is
actually a human portrait; he likes nature and animals but it looks like he’s
so much into his job that he has actually started looking like his chameleon
– they almost have the same face!

you can see, first of all I choose the background

and the colour palette, then the character
appears, but in initial sketches there was actually
no idea of a chameleon – he showed up later on.
I have to admit that very often when I’m drawing,
I have no idea where it’s going to lead me in the
end. For example, all of a sudden the chameleon
decided to lick his owner’s wart (he got confused
and thought it was a fly!). Also, I thought about
adding a cage behind the man, but I changed my
mind and left the background clean in the end.
Your characters appear to be rather cute,

cheerful and happy, whereas your illustrations
and drawings can often reflect a more
melancholy state. What type of emotion do you
prefer to illustrate, and why? Would you say
that your personal mood directly influences your
artwork?
I can’t say that I have any preferences; I
don’t think I like something more or less
than another... Sadness and happiness: I
like to display both of these emotions in my
illustrations; I like to display a wide variety of
human emotions, human moods, and it doesn’t
matter whether it’s sad or happy or cheerful or
crazy or whatever else it is!
What is going to be the next ‘masterpiece’?

It always depends on my mood. Sometimes it
is upside down; when I’m in a bad mood and
I desperately need to create something really
www.2dartistmag.com page 10 Issue 023 November 2007

funny and cheerful. Anyway, all of my art comes from the bottom of my
heart; I am always concerned about my characters; my feelings and
emotions may come from the present time or from the past. Sometimes
it’s much easier for me to express myself through my illustrations
than verbally. Thank god I have my skills, because words cannot say
everything!
Overall, I’d say your art creations are very expressive, energetic and lively.
Are these characteristics which you also possess yourself?
Yes, I think we have something in common! Although I am not flying
around my apartment like the cat in my “Crazy Cat” artwork, I do like
people with a sense of humour and I consider myself to be one of them.
In this job it is very difficult to take everything seriously. In my childhood

I was a “hooligan-girl”, and my friends were
mostly boys. I like moving about and I enjoy
sports, but I don’t always have enough time
for it. It’s very difficult to judge myself, but
people who I am in touch with say that I and my
characters are very alike.
You mention on your website that you’re

interested in any kinds of collaborations. What
would be your perfect collaboration - who would
it be with, and why?
From the moment I was a child I dreamt of
making cartoons, and unfortunately this is still
the dream... But, if I ever get the chance to work
with Pixar Animation artists, then I won’t miss
it! An opportunity like that is worth dying for!!
I love their characters and animations! Being
realistic though, I would like to participate in any
sort of crazy, unusual projects... which could be
anything where I can create and express my
thoughts and ideas!
Elena Sedova
For more work by this artist please visit:
www.elenasedova.com
Or contact them at:
info@rabbitteam.com
Interviewed by: Lynette Clee
Following in the success of our first two books in the
‘Digital Art Masters’ series, we would like to announce
the ‘Call for Entries’ for the third book in the series
‘Digital Art Masters: Volume 3’.
‘Volume 1 & 2’ of 3DTotal’s book series, featured

some of the best 3d & 2d artwork from such artists
as Marek Denco, James Busby , Natascha Roeoesli,
Philip Straub, Rob Chang, Jonny Duddle, Benita
Winckler, Ryan Lim and Fred Bastide. The one thing
that set the ‘Digital Art Masters’ series apart from other
gallery/catalogue books was the fact that we wanted
to show the readers how the images were created, so
each artist wrote a breakdown overview to accompany
their piece in the book.
‘Digital Art Masters: Volume 3’ will again be showcas-

ing some of the finest 2d and 3d images from talented
artists across the globe. Initial submissions need to
be of your final image only to enable entrance into the
selection process. Chosen artists then need to supply
an additional text overview with ‘making of’ and ‘work
in progress’ images. See samples at bottom of page
to give you a good idea of
what is required.
Schedule and Calendar for all submissions is availble

from this web link:
http://www.3dtotal.com/damv3_callforsubmissions/
“Coupled with sheer stubbornness
and determination, I believe
if you set out to achieve your
heart’s desire, the whole process
of that journey can be sometimes
more rewarding than getting
there...”
Medical school
graduate turned
digital artist, Dr Chee
Ming Wong takes
time out from running
his business, ‘Opus
Artz’, to talk to us
about himself and his
passion for ‘space
medicine’...
Interview Dr.Chee Ming Wong
Hello Koshime, could you tell us a bit about

yourself, please? And how would you best
describe your artwork?
Good to meet you, Chris. I’m the Creative
Director and co-founder of a concept and
visualisation company, specialising in pre-
production artwork for the entertainment
industry. I am particularly fond of environmental
and transport concept art, ranging from a
wide genre of aerospace, sci-fi and fantasy,
depending on the client’s requirements.
Could you tell us why you decided to set up

Opus Artz Limited, and where did the name
come from?
Opus Artz came about after having garnered
sufficient critical mass and experience, and
through the desire to provide high quality visuals
for pre-production within a small, tight-knit group
of experienced concept artists and friends. The meaning behind Opus

reflects an “epic work of art”, and is representative of the digital studio that
sets out to produce an exciting diversity of conceptual art and design.
You graduated from Sheffield Medical School in 2001, and then went on to
become a concept artist whilst specialising as an anaesthetist. Could you
tell us why you chose to start doing 2D art when you sound like you had a
very promising medical career?
Whilst specialising as an anaesthetist and early on as a doctor in training,
both the passion to visualise worlds and environments for games and
movies came forth - influenced by the beautiful, lush visuals of various
matte painters and concept artists. It was a time when digital artwork
was coming forth (2001), whereby the use of digital tablets enabled
rapid visualisations of concepts and illustrations that could build upon
the traditional skill-set of industrial design principles. And thus, I built

Dr.Chee Ming Wong Interview
upon two careers in parallel over the next eight

years, whilst freelancing on various MMORPG
projects and CGI animation pre-production
projects, whilst being actively involved with
the rapid growth of digital artists. Ultimately
(whilst trying not to quote you a manifesto), the
urge to formalise this experience came forth in
October 2007, with the formation of a European
based team of experienced concept artists and
industrial designers. The aim was to provide
high quality visuals and to concentrate purely
on the pre-production process, whilst providing
a strong design team offering services in
professional web design, packaging and brand
development, all targeted specifically at the

entertainment industry. Ultimately, I love both

my artistic and medical career. However, with
the recent NHS fiasco, which my training and
job opportunities were significantly impacted
upon, it is perhaps now the time to take a big
risk and to take my fortune into my own hands.
So are your artistic talents self-taught or did you

attend any college/universities?
My schooling in art is entirely self-taught, with
invaluable help, tutelage and critique from the
digital online community. Namely, I owe a large
body of my improvement and art skills to Kim
Taylor, Phil Straub, Don Seegmiller, and the
local Euro/UK ConceptArt.org group. However,
I do sometimes reflect on my progress and
wonder if it would have come to the same
course with a formal background at college/
university. Nevertheless, I learnt my skills
through daily perseverance and through working
on active game projects and freelancing in
illustration and design.

You have worked on numerous game projects Your interest in aerospace reflects somewhat to branch into various genres, to become a
over the past 7 years. Is this something you see in your work. Have you ever attempted to try versatile artist, although aerospace will always
yourself doing in the future, or is it more of a different genres, or is this solely where your hold a special place in my heart due to the
side line to your medical career? interest lies? ‘space medicine’ related interest.
Originally this was nurtured as a sideline, but Actually, I have various interests in multiple
over the years a transition period, where I see genres of sci-fi, fantasy and industrial design, So what is it about ‘space medicine’ that
myself becoming a full-time artist and director it is just that I have been tasked to draw solely interests you so much?
whilst the medical career becomes part-time, aerospace and sci-fi related artwork solidly for Some day, someone has to get us up there.
has been fast approaching. the past two years. I have now an opportunity Perhaps I wont be around to personally pioneer
the exploration of the local planets/galaxy, but

any effort to help advance that course, may it be
through a blend of astronomy, medicine and art,
the thought of space exploration can be likened
to the next natural horizon to explore akin to the
Wild West.
What and/or who are your main sources of

inspiration?
Most notably Craig Mullins, John Wallins Liberto
and Erik Tiemens; tempered by the variety of
concept art by various established artists, such
as Feng Zhu, Scott Robertson.
You sound like an incredibly busy man! So when

you have the chance to take time off, what sort
of things do you enjoy doing?
The thought of doing absolutely nothing and

Dr.Chee Ming Wong Interview
living domestic bliss with my wife, be it at

home, doing home DIY or slobbing about in the
local community or nature park, is my idea of
having a good time off! This would of course be
interspersed with frenetic drawing, sketching
and painting non-stop, even during my time off,
or on occasion gallivanting to the local museums
or historical sights for sightseeing, sketching and
photography.
Well it has been a pleasure talking with you and

I wish you and your company all the best. One
last question before we wrap things up: what
has been the most influential piece of advice
process of that journey can be sometimes more
Dr. Chee Ming Wong
rewarding than getting there. In closing, I would
that you have been given, and by whom? For more work by this artist please visit:
like to say that one should take time to smell the
My father often says that failure is merely a http://www.opusartz.com
roses and enjoy the local sights, once you reach
stepping stone to success. Coupled with sheer Or contact them at:
your destination...
stubbornness and determination, I believe if you chee@opusartz.com
set out to achieve your heart’s desire, the whole Interviewed by: Chris Perrins

: volume 2
Available Now Only!

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Features 58 of the finest digital

2d and 3d artists working in
the indusrty today, from the
likes of:
Philip Straub
Jonny Duddle
Alessandro Baldasseroni
Benita Winckler
Fred Bastide
James Busby
Marek Denco
Patrick Beaulieu
Jonathan Simard
Buy the book to see just

how they create their
incredible imagery!
Hardback 21.6cm x 27.9cm in size
for more products in our range visit http://www.3dtotal.com/shop 288 Full Colour premium paper pages
“...ultimately, the role of
a Production Designer is to
decide how to visually tell
the story and present that
vision to the Director...”
Nathaniel West is a freelance

illustrator and designer who works
in both the film and videogame
industry. He graduated in
Illustration before moving into
themed entertainment, where
he worked on theme parks and
museum attractions; his strong
sense of architectural design
now helps him develop the mood
and quality in a variety of digital
environments...
Interview Nathaniel West
some may believe it or not. I have been very

fortunate to be able to come from a background
that is full of real-world spatial design, which has
taught me to think about the viewers of those
spaces and how they will realistically use and
experience them. When you walk into a themed
space, you may not be aware of it, but there
is meticulous planning involved to ensure that
you, as a viewer, will have a specific experience
Your background experience in theme parks that the designer wants you to have. There’s
and museums is an interesting one. Can you a certain style and shape to the architecture,
elaborate on what you mean by connecting certain props and décor to tell you a story about
people to spaces “through story, massing, the space, its inhabitants, and how they may
ornamentation and flow”? use the space. Ornamentation involves all the
Design influences our everyday world, whether little details that we may easily over look, such

Interview Name Interview
as the texture on walls, graphics, patterns, hints When I design a world, I can’t help but think of
of decay, and so on. The way we move through it as a real space that will be used by someone
a space, or how it is introduced to us, is also in some way. I’m always thinking about how it
key in the overall design. Do we walk through would feel to walk through that world, and how
narrow hallways to get to the space, or do we one may interact with it. Just looking interesting
walk through an open courtyard first? Does the is not enough. If it doesn’t work spatially, then
space have high ceilings, or low ceilings? Can it won’t come across as a believable world.
we see a glimpse of the space from afar? These It is important to think about flow, how one
are decisions that will ultimately affect how we might walk through the space, and what will be
interact with the space and how it makes us feel. revealed to them as they turn a corner. It’s also
important to think about shapes, and massing
Can you describe with reference to some of your that reinforces the mood of a space. Sharp
paintings how you have applied this background angles and forms would be more appropriate
knowledge to help design some of your digital for a sinister space, rather than bubbly circles,
worlds? for example. I’m also very concerned with

props and things that tell a story to the viewer. Can you tell us a little about this particular piece him, decides to revisit the one place that truly
I think that telling a story and adding interesting and the idea behind it? captured his innocence and his youth, which
touches to make a viewer ask questions is what That image is for a film called “Back to is a quaint farming town in Missouri called
makes an image intriguing. Butterfield”. It’s a heartwarming drama set Butterfield. Plagued by memories of wrong
against the scenic backdrop of rural Texas choices and missed opportunities, Norman’s
One of the images I found intriguing when I first and Missouri. At the core of the story is the strong desire to get back to a time when he still
saw it was the nighttime view of a street lined emotional journey of an old man named had the world on his shoulders drives him back
with strings of yellow lights [see previous page]. Norman, who, upon the deaths of those dear to to his hometown, despite his failing health.
Following in Norman’s footsteps is his grandson, scenes of the film. We wanted a magical quality Which particular projects have been the most
Jonathan, whose same bad decisions have him in the air, with string lights over the streets and interesting from a personal viewpoint, and why?
repeating his grandfather’s path in life. Their throughout the trees… almost a timeless quality, There have been so many projects that have
paths cross on Norman’s journey to Butterfield, because this town represents timelessness been amazing. I have been truly fortunate to
which happens to be having its 150 year to Norman. The carousel at the end of the have all the opportunities that I have had come
anniversary festival. This image showcases the street plays as a backdrop to one of the most my way. I would say that right now, the most
golden and quaint quality that the director and emotional scenes in the film, and is a reminder interesting and at the same time challenging
I initially imagined for the festival in the final of our youth. projects involve film. I’m currently delving into
production design, where not only do I get to I think that is a common notion, but ultimately
think about spaces and the characters that the role of a Production Designer is to decide
inhabit them, but also about how these spaces how to visually tell the story and present that
can visually reinforce the emotional tone of vision to the Director. That not only includes
specific scenes, and thus the overall film itself. the use of colours and styles in the sets and
Playing with colour schemes and creating locations, but also the usage of filters that
the visual style for a film is a very fascinating go over the lenses, as well. The Director,
experience, as well. It really opens up a new Cinematographer, and Production Designer
level of thought and detail that I enjoy very work very closely together on any project.
much. Ideally, those three people collaborate on an
equal level, and the exchange of ideas is free
The notion of a scene emphasising an emotional and fluid. The Cinematographer may have great
state and using colour as a device sounds very colour ideas to add to the Production Designer’s
much like the role of a cinematographer. Do vision, whereas the Production Designer may
you ever work in conjunction with these people have some interesting ideas on how to light a
behind the scenes and communicate ideas? scene in an exciting way that may further push

Interview Name Interview
the story. All in all, film is a very collaborative as a combination of not only digital illustration,
effort, and it takes many minds to make it a but mixed media collage as well. I draw from
reality. real life as inspiration, and therefore like to make
references to it as a basis for my work.
It looks as if there are a few photographed
textures in some of your images. Do you use Which artists do you believe have had the most
these to speed up the painting process or influence upon you and who would you site
maybe just add a touch of realism? as the most important within the field of digital
I would say both. From a production standpoint, development?
I use different photos and textures to speed up There have been so many people that have
the process — moving quickly and efficiently. been a great influence to me — it’s hard to
The most important thing, above all, is to name them all! As far as artists are concerned,
clearly demonstrate your vision. I am heavily I really love the works of N.C. Wyeth and Dean
influenced by certain random photos (it could be Cornwell, simply for their amazing illustration
a picture of peeling paint from a wall) and like to and storytelling abilities. I’m also a very big
incorporate them into my pieces. I view my work fan of Edward Gorey, John Singer Sargent,

J.W. Waterhouse, Giorgio de Chirico, Bernd story, and understanding the mood you are Take the image of the dark Chinese-inspired
Haussmann and Syd Mead, amongst others. I trying to create through lighting and atmosphere. alley, for example [see previous page]. The
am of course heavily influenced by the master Once you have a full understanding of what focus of this scene is the blue alcove on the
of digital art himself, Craig Mullins. He has you’re trying to portray, anything and everything right-hand side. There’s a play on traditional
really opened the door to the possibilities of can happen. Your environment will undoubtedly ‘old world’ elements with the altar and golden
digital illustration, but he is rooted in traditional become more detailed in terms of the textures sculpture above, and the notion that it has
techniques of the masters before him, such as and the props you will use to reinforce the story been converted by its ‘modern’ tenants into a
the Brandywine artists Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth and mood. multi-use space with the wiring on the walls,
and Dean Cornwell. gas can, appliances, and so on. There is a pile
When you design environments for video of oranges on the altar, suggesting an offering,
Would you label yourself under the banner of games, what are the different considerations along with postings on the pillars, which could
“concept artist”, or do you see your role being that you need to address when compared to suggest that an event of some importance is
more specifically related to environmental film? occurring that needs announcing. The black
design? I would say that the differences are very cat subtly suggests an air of danger about the
I don’t think of myself as either one or the other. minimal; the same principles apply to any entire environment, to me. If you were alone on
I just think of myself as a designer and an situation where you have a character interacting a street like this and a black cat ran in front of
illustrator. I’m very fortunate to have experience with a space. You still need to consider spatial you, it might give you an eerie feeling. I wanted
in both the conceptual stages of projects, as well relations, the staging of key elements and story to give it a noir feeling… a feeling of danger and
as how to design them in order to make them points. Logistically, you don’t need to consider beauty at the same time.
work realistically. So I guess you could say I’m a construction budgets as much in video games
little of both. though, as it will all be built in 3D. Nathaniel West
Could you summarise what you think are Story seems to be a word that you mention www.nathanielwest.net
the essential components that are key when frequently and attribute much importance to. Or contact them at:
designing a digital environment? Can you refer to one of your paintings and nathaniel@nathanielwest.net
The most essential components when designing describe how you have used props and details
a digital environment are understanding your to help suggest a storyline to the viewer? Interviewed by: Richard Tilbury

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“...I got to meet Sid Mead
and sat next to him at a Hot
Wheels convention, and
we talked for a long time.
In my mind he has always
been the Godfather of
entertainment design.”
Dwayne Vance went

from being a designer for
companies such as
Mattel- Hot Wheels and
Troy Lee Designs, to setting
up his new company,
FutureElements. Designing
entertainment vehicles in
2D, to restoring his 1967
Pontiac Bonneville, Dwayne
has a passion for all things
that can be driven! ...
Interview Dwayne Vance
Hello Dwayne, well I must start by saying it

was a pleasure meeting you face-to-face at this
year’s Siggraph convention! Could you introduce
yourself to our readers and give a little insight
into your progression to where you are today?
You guys do a great job at 2DArtist and it was a
pleasure to meet you guys, as well.
Well my name is Dwayne Vance and I am

married and have three kids. My wife would
probably say I am the fourth kid. Well like most
artist and designers I started at the early age.
I took art classes here and there throughout
school and really didn’t get serious about art
and design until I started college. I started as
a mechanical engineer and found that I wasn’t
a math guy so I changed my major to graphic
design. I had a teacher and my girlfriend now
my wife, really inspire me to apply to Art Center
in Pasadena. So I did and failed then tried
again and got accepted. Finished and got my
degree in Transportation Design in 2000. I
got my first job at a company called Troy Lee
designs, I designed protective motocross gear.
Then moved onto Hot Wheels and designed
lots of toys there. That was a very fun job,
I got to really design what I love, entertainment style vehicles. Then

ended up going back to Troy Lee designs and I designed more protective
equipment. Now I have my own business called FutureElements and we
do anything from product design to entertainment design. I also try to find
time to do Hot Rod art and sell it at shows.
How do you feel the relevance of conferences such as Siggraph and

Adapt have for artists like yourself?
Siggraph is a great show because you get to see what is going on in the

Dwayne Vance Interview
industry, from 3D software to the movie industry.
I have not been in a few years and I decided
to go this year at the last minute to make more
contacts. As I am starting my own business I
never know who I will run into at these shows
- like meeting you guys! I also ran into friends
at Siggraph that I had not seen in a while, and
it was very different from when I used to go.
Companies like Lucasarts, Disney and several
others were a lot more open and very friendly.
I got to talk with a few of the guys at Lucas and
asked all kinds of questions about the stuff
they worked on in Transformers. It was very
informative stuff and I could’ve sat and listen to
it for hours!
Okay, so you’re currently starting your own

design company up; could you tell us how that is
going, what sort of work you will be producing?
Yes, the company is called FutureElements and
we will be working on all kinds of projects from
industrial design to Illustration. Things are going
really well right now and I have had to recruit
a few people to help me with all the projects
I have. Some of the current projects I have
been working on are designing stuff for Mattel,
Hot Wheels and Batman properties, as well as

Hasbro. I’ve also been creating some mountain
bike designs and Illustration work for Texaco,
and a few other things. Then I have several
projects coming up in the future. I am really Interview Dwayne Vance
plugged into the extreme sports industry and the
automotive industry, but my next goal is to gain
more work in the entertainment industry. I have
a real passion for gaming and I hope to break
into that industry soon!
So with your passion for cars and gaming, I
would assume that if you broke into the games
industry you would try and work on a driving
game title. So out of the collection that are
around right now, which one would you most
like to work on?
I know this will sound funny but I really have
no interest in working on a car game. I love
cars and everything about them, but I get really
bored with car games. I would rather work on
something sci-fi like Mass Effect, Halo, Lost
Planet - anything in that type of genre, really. I
have a passion for concept design, and drawing
existing vehicles just doesn’t excite me as much.
If I did work on a car game though, I would
choose to work on the Need for Speed games
as they have a little more imagination and
energy to them.
Your passion for automotive design started way

back when you were a child and has played a
huge part in your professional career through
your work for the likes of Hot Wheels and
Mazda, as well as in your personal life through
the restoration of your 1967 Pontiac Bonneville!
Could you tell us how this passion came about?
Right from when I was a little kid it seemed
like it was in my blood. I was always drawing
exotic cars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis and so
on. Then I tried to draw cars and combine them
to see what they would look like! Most of them
were hideous, but then I was trying to design
them back when I was about nine! Then I saw

an Art Center catalogue when I was in JR High
and decided that was what I wanted to do: draw
things for a living. My dad and I restored a 1967
Mustang together when I was in high school,
so this only fed my passion for cars. Then later
on in my career I got a job at Hot Wheels and it
was the best fit for me because it was a mixture
of entertainment meets automobile. And yes, my
1967 Pontiac Bonneville is my current project,
just because I needed a cool car to work on! As
a designer I am adding my own flare to it, as
well. I still have a huge passion for Hot Rods
and Muscle cars so I do artwork based on
that genre of stuff. Then I also run and own a
website called www.Octane456.com, which is
an online Hot Rot and Muscle car website.
Did you ever consider forging a career
in creating concepts for big named car
manufactures?
Yes I did. I had an internship at Ford when I
was in school and realised then that I wasn’t a
typical car guy. I even had an offer from Hyundai
to work for them after school. I love sci-fi stuff
too much to stay in the car industry. I did some
pretty crazy cars when I was in school and the
car companies didn’t like that too much. But I
was okay with that because I knew deep down
inside that I wouldn’t stay in the car industry
long. In fact, when I was at the Art Center I
wanted to take entertainment design as a minor,
but the program was shut down by the time I
reached it. So I continued with transportation
design. Now the Art Center has an amazing
entertainment design program and I am jealous!
Interview Dwayne Vance
If you could sum up your style of art work into one sentence, what would
it be?
Good question! My slogan for my company is “high energy art and
design”, so I’d like to try to stick to that.
Throughout an artist’s career, they will always look at artwork by there

favourite artists, whether for research or inspiration. So which do you find
your inspiration from?
Oh wow! Yeah, I have looked up to several people out there and there are
so many good names to choose from. I can tell you that whilst I was at
Hot Wheels I got to meet Syd Mead and sat next to him at a Hot Wheels
convention, and we talked for a long time. In my mind he has always been
the Godfather of entertainment design. So at an early age I saw his work
and always loved it. Other names that come to mind that have influenced
me are Scott Robertson, who I had as a teacher and he really pushed

and inspired me; Craig Mullins, Ryan church, Mark Gorner, Sparth, Vyle
and all the guys from Steambot. Those are probably my top picks! I am
constantly looking at people’s work for two reasons: one, because they
are my competition; two, to be inspired and to push myself harder.
You mentioned you met Syd Mead whilst at Hot Wheels. If you could work
together on a project in the future, what would it be?
Wow, another big question! Well, Syd Mead is known for his sci-fi stuff, so
I guess some sci-fi game or movie. Maybe if someone wanted to expand
the story of Blade Runner and do a new movie based on the original that
would be awesome, since Syd is so well-known for that movie. I would
also love to expand the story of my Arc Mechs; I really like the story that
goes a long with it and I think it would really lend itself to some great
visuals. So it would be really be cool to see Syd’s take on it!

Well it has been a pleasure talking with you,
and I wish you all the best in the future with your
company. I have one last question before we
wrap things up, though! Over the course of your
art career, what has been the most influential
piece of advice that you have been give, and by
whom?
I think the most influential piece of advice
would be from the Bible and that is, “love your
neighbour as you love yourself”. I know that
might sound weird, but let me explain... If we all
treated each other with respect, it really would
go a long way. I have always tried to help out
people, other designers and artists that are
students or just want to start designing. One
thing I can’t stand is cocky designers and I have
met plenty of them. But on the other hand I have
met plenty of great designers that didn’t have
an attitude at all, and those are the ones I really
look up to. So thank you again for allowing me
the time to tell my story and I wish you guys all
the best, as well!
Dwayne Vance
http://www.futureelements.net
Or contact them at:
dwayne@futureelements.net
Interviewed By : Chris Perrins
“I started off with a
0.5 mechanical pencil
and then went over them
with an ebony pencil. I Sketchbook Noi Inthavong
then scanned them into
Photoshop where I put them
together and cleaned them
up.”
Noi Inthavong is a graphic artist with a variety

of skills, ranging from print to web design and
3D animation on both Mac and PC platforms.
Noi told us, “Throughout my experience in the
various fields, I have come to realise what kind
of career that I am most passionate about - it
is concept art. I love the feel of the stroke of a
paint brush. I know the importance of concept
art because it is the first step where ideas are
visualised”.
Noi Inthavong Sketchbook
Beale
Beale was a character concept
that I drew for Falling Door
Production. I had to look
through many different kinds
of amphibians and lizards in
order to come up with him. He
was supposed to be one of the
inventors’ assistants, hence the
apron and spectacles.
The Clowns
The clown pictures were a few
of the concepts that I did for a
friend. It took me three tries to
get the right sized one (the
smallest). After I was done
I realised that they would
make a really interesting
staged sequence, so I put
them together.
I started off with a 0.5
mechanical pencil and
then went over them with
an ebony pencil. I then
scanned them into Photoshop
where I put them together and
cleaned them up.

Sketchbook Noi Inthavong
The Ninja
The ninja concept was drawn up to have a friend of mine model him in
3D. He was mainly inspired by the SNK’s version of Hanzo Hatori, from
Samurai Showdown. I wasn’t really going for a typical Japanese Shinobi;
instead I was going for more of a fantasy version. So I mixed him up a little
with a Western designed armour.
This one was finished with an ebony pencil and was scanned into
Photoshop for final touch-ups and some cleaning.
Rayne
Rayne was another one of the characters that I designed for Falling Door
Production. At the time when I was designing her, I was really into Hyung
Tae Kim’s work from Magnacarta, hence the different ornaments and

Noi Inthavong Sketchbook
braided designs. She is also one of my fantasy
shinobi characters.
Risa
In this concept, I was trying to create a fantasy
insect girl. I gave her a small belly in order
to make her resemble more of a young girl. I
had to research through many different insect
pictures in order to come up with her.
Ronnelle
Ronnelle was also a character I designed
for Falling Door. She was designed to be a
beautiful yet lethal warrior. Her clothing styles
were meant to be decorative with lots of jewels,
whilst still allowing her to be very mobile. The
ornamental dress and hair piece were design to
be used as an unnoticeable weapon. With this
piece, I went through many different ideas and
designs before the team found the right outfit.
Noi Inthavong
For more information please visit:
www.3thumbsup.0catch.com
Or contact:
noiinthavong@hotmail.com

“I love this stuff. It’s motion +
code + narrative + interactivity
+ beauty. It’s the kind of
experience I wanted back when
I first jumped online in 1996.
It’s a geek’s paradise—but it’s
also the kind of thing my mom
can enjoy.”
Fallon, B-Reel and nine artists from

around the world collaborated to
create a mesmerising mini-site for
Sci-fi Channel’s new mini-series,
“Tin Man”, inspired by the ZoomQuilt
project...
Infinite Oz Tin Man
Infinite OZ “Tin Man”

Fallon, B-Reel and nine artists from around the
world collaborated to create a mesmerising mini-
site for Sci Fi’s new mini-series, “Tin Man”.
Inspired by the ZoomQuilt project, the

Infinite OZ site beautifully captures the inter-
dimensional weirdness of the Outer Zone (”OZ”)
by surrealistically embedding one dreamlike
vista in another.
What makes the project tick, though, is the

injection of thoughtful motion and excellent
sound design. Atmospherics like rainfall
and particle fields are buttressed by shifts
in the sonic landscape, adding depth to the

Tin Man Infinite Oz
fantastically detailed paintings. The whole

experience is seamless, thanks in large part to
some bad-ass code running under the hood,
but also thanks to the natural way in which each
artist’s painting resonates with those before and
after it.
I love this stuff. It’s motion + code + narrative +

interactivity + beauty. It’s the kind of experience
I wanted back when I first jumped online in
1996. It’s a geek’s paradise—but it’s also the
kind of thing my mom can enjoy.
Getting Back to Pangea

Over the last several years, the fields of motion
design and interactive design have been
overlapping more and more. The overlap has
been driven by a combination of technological
advances and a paradigm shift on the part of
designers to regard the web as a broadcast
medium. Some people—dubbed “visionaries”
in the 90s because their creativity outpaced
the available technology—have seen this trend
developing for a long time. But the ad dollars
and broadband penetration simply weren’t
there to justify their grand ideas. Now things

have changed. The big money is going to the
web. Budgets for web sites can be staggeringly
huge—much larger in many cases than the
budgets for national television spots. With these
burgeoning budgets has come some willingness
to experiment. If you don’t believe me, hop on
over to The FWA and launch the first few sites.
There’s some truly ballsy stuff going on there.
Exodus, Movement of The

People
I’ve met a lot of interactive designers who’ve
migrated to motion design. I’m one of them,
in fact. I couldn’t wait to leave behind the
comparatively limited capabilities of Flash for
the seemingly unlimited power of After Effects.
When I threw Cinema 4D into the mix, I started
to feel like a god.
But all that time Flash was growing up,

becoming much more sophisticated than a mere
vector animation tool. ActionScript hit puberty
and then went dashing into adulthood, becoming
a fully fledged object-oriented language.
Meanwhile, the authoring environment sprouted

all sorts of interesting new tools. Perhaps the
most relevant evolution for motion designers,
however, was the way in which Flash’s video
support changed over the years. Initially, the
Flash Player’s video functionality was simply
seen as an alternative to QuickTime and
RealPlayer. It was just another video player,
albeit one with greater penetration by far than
the alternatives.
As the video codecs improved, two things

happened. 1) High-quality video with low data
rates was possible. 2) Alpha channel support
was introduced. That, combined with overall
performance boosts in the Flash player,
particularly with regards to handling bitmap
data, set the stage for the quiet revolution taking
place now.
I find it a little strange that so many interactive

designers have come knocking on the door
of motion design but that the reverse is
seldom true. I think this will change. As motion
designers begin to see how much fun it is to
build projects for the web and as the underlying
technologies continue to evolve, I think we’ll see
more and more motion freelancers being picked
up by studios like B-Reel. To put it another way,
studios like B-Reel, who put web and broadcast
on equal footing, will start snowballing into larger
and larger powerhouses.
For now, add some interactivity to your daily

diet, if you haven’t already. Think about how
motion might become more than just a passive
experience. Consider that you have the power
to create entire worlds, not just 30-second spots.
Article Written by and Courtesy of:
Justin Cone
Editor, Motionographer
For more information, please visit:
http://motionographer.com
B-Reel and Fallon Promote

Sci-fi Mini-Series, TIN
MAN, With “Infinite OZ”
Website
The “Infinite OZ” site allows visitors to
experience the world of the Outer Zone – www.
road2oz.com.
B-Reel is proud of the new collaboration with

Fallon Worldwide. Together with Fallon’s media
department and the creative team, then headed
by Calle Sjönell and Pelle Sjönell, B-Reel
directed and produced a promotional micro site
for the mini-series Tin Man, to be aired on SCI
FI Channel on December 2. Fallon’s media
department and B-Reel set out to create a flash-
based digital experience to evoke interest and
create a buzz around Tin Man, the re-imagining
of the literary classic The Wonderful Wizard
of OZ. B-Reel also produced HD broadcast
versions for television, cinema and in-store
media. The inspiration came from the art
project of the ZoomQuilt, originally created by
designers looping Flash scenes together, letting
the viewer experience a seamless journey from
scene to scene. This was the start of B-Reel’s
collaboration with nine of the most talented
CGI artists in the world: Phil McDarby, Gerardo
De Gerard, Rudolf Herczog, Raphael Lacoste,
Martin Lisec, Greg Petchkovsky, Andreas
Rocha, Philip Straub and Geoffrey White. The
zoom incorporates 15 different key scenes from
Infinite Oz Tin Man
the mini-series. While the artists were allowed to Contact: Niklas Lindström, Executive Producer in Minneapolis, London, Singapore, São Paulo,
freely interpret their assigned scenes, they were Phone: +1 212 446 6765 and Tokyo. Additional information can be found
given general technical and graphical guidelines Mobile: +1 917 455 0398 at www.fallon.com
as well as specific briefs. This allowed for Email: niklas.lindstrom@b-reel.com
smooth transitions between the scenes and the SCI FI Channel is a television network
creation of freestanding elements suitable for Fallon Worldwide, one of the world’s most where “what if” is what’s on. SCI FI fuels the
animation and that could be adjusted for both critically acclaimed, creatively driven branding imagination of viewers with original series
web and HD broadcast versions. In order to companies, manages the consumer voice of and events, blockbuster movies, and classic
achieve a never-ending zoom and maintain full some of the world’s leading brands, including science fiction and fantasy programming, as
resolution, the artists created their scenes in Sony, Nestlé Purina, TIME Magazine, Holiday well as a dynamic web site (www.scifi.com) and
10k resolution. Once the scenes were delivered, Inn, Holiday Inn Express, ASDA, National Car magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in
the B-Reel crew began their work linking Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, and Orange. 92 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network
them together and bringing them to life using Fallon Worldwide is a global network of of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading
animation, weather and light effects. In order to Publicis Groupe, based in Paris, and has 500 media and entertainment companies.
process this much graphical data, it was crucial employees worldwide. The company has offices
to use the latest version of Flash, version 9,
combined with the latest Action Scripttm 3.0
programming language featuring improved
performance and increased flexibility.
About...
B-Reel, is a hybrid production company that
directs and produces live action, animation and
interactive. The productions seamlessly traverse
media platforms, from television to the web. The
company has offices in Stockholm and New
York. For more information about B-Reel, please
visit www.b-reel.com

“If someone finds out how
to un-glue themselves
from their magical
chair, please send me
an email! The shape
of my bottom is
slowly morphing
anatomically
into a different
shape…”
tu
e O
iT m
in g
Ta k This month, we’ve asked 2D artists from a variety of
backgrounds and locations around the world:
How do you take time out

from the world of CG / Art?
Here’s what they said...
Taking Time Out
Egil Paulsen spending time with interesting people and good
conversation. Art is an important part of my
“More studying.”
life… but it’s only one part. Having an open mind
Erich Schreiner and experiencing the world around us is even

more important than that next art project sitting
Freelance Artist, Germany
Andrew Hou “I am visiting the gym three times a week, and
on my desk.”
Senior Concept Artist, Webzen
meet with some friends at the weekend, etc. I
Seoul, South Korea
also try to watch interesting films at the movies
Kerem Beyit
“If someone finds out how to un-glue themselves Concept Artist & Illustrator, Aranim Media
or DVDs for inspiration, etc. In fact, when you
from their magical chair, please send me Factory, Turkey
try to make a living out of something it’s nearly
an email! The shape of my bottom is slowly “Well, I do what most of the guys do; reading
impossible to take time out, because you always
morphing anatomically into a different shape…” comics, books, watching movies (mostly CG
think about it… and I mean always!”
movies), hanging out with friends...”
Benita Winckler Justin Kellis
Freelance Illustrator, Berlin, Germany
Graphic Artist, KICK Design, New York City
Mike Corriero
“The usual stuff: gym, movies, computer games, Freelance Concept Artist & Illustrator,
“Oh there are plenty of things in this world
parties. Not necessarily in that order.” Colonia, NJ, USA
to distract me from art… too many in fact:
“Getting outside and enjoying nature, scenery
music, cooking, reading, travelling, and just
Christophe Vacher
Concept Artist, Painter & Art Director,
Luxembourg & Los Angeles, USA
“I always make time for myself outside of
the CG/Art world. It’s a matter of mental and
physical health. My second world is the world of
martial arts. I’ve been training in all sorts for 25
years now, but that’s another story.”
Daniela Uhlig
Graphic Designer & Illustrator, Mobil
Entertainment Company, Berlin, Germany
“Meet with friends, my boyfriend, or simply
watch TV.”
Daniele Bigi
Lead Lighter & Compositor, Aardman
Animation, Bristol, UK
“For most of the people who work in an artistic
world, work is often an obsession and it is really
hard to be able to take time off. The only way to
relax is to go on holidays, but often when I am
away I see something interesting and I start to
think about a new project!”
Don Seegmiller
Freelance Concept Artist, Illustrator & Artist,
Utah, USA
“I fly fish and ride my motorcycle.”

Taking Time Out
and getting some sun. It’s not healthy to sit in
Mikko Kinnunen generally find myself gaming with friends or
front of a computer twelve hours a day - it’s dancing at the city night clubs. I prefer to be
Environment Artist, Recoil Games,
detrimental to your eyes and your hands. I as active as I can be and surround myself with
Helsinki, Finland
like to play games, watch movies, and visit social interaction when I’m not plastered infront
“I go walking with my dog, eat out in a good
family - basically anything to take my mind off of my computer screen!”
restaurant, or go see an interesting movie.”
the computer screen sitting at home. I draw
practically every day so getting away from
Misty Coats Paul Wright
art in general is impossible, but drawing in “It’s not much of a change, but digital
UI & Concept Artist, High Voltage Software,
my sketchbook is a break from staring at the photography at the moment. That combined with
Hoffman Estates, IL, USA
computer, so it’s relaxation for me.” some good country air!”
“When I’m not producing artwork? Well, I
Raluca Iosifescu
“Actually it’s the other way around: I take time
off from my job for CG graphics, and I don’t
intend to put it into second place. I need drawing
to be happy!”
Robert Chang
“CG/Art isn’t the biggest thing in my life,
anyway. I might do it as a job often, but when
I’m not working I tend to spend my time
shooting photography, composing music, writing
screenplays and novels, watching movies,
reading books, playing video games and so on.”
Robin Chyo
Concept Artist, Cryptic Studios,
Los Gatos, California, USA
“I’ll watch a movie sometimes or go to hang
out at the book store. But honestly, I’m always
thinking about what would be cool to paint or
design next.”
Rolando Cyril
“I am 22 and my busy life goes at around
hundred kilometres an hour! I haven’t other
artistic activities, but I work in a psychiatric
hospital as a psychologist.”
Roy Stein
“I love watching movies - it gives me energy and
muse at the same time.”
Ryohei Hase
Illustrator & Designer, Bandai Namco
Games, Tokyo, Japan
“I play with Kotaro, my dog.”

Taking Time Out
Sam Lamont Tuna Ferit

2D Animation Student, Glamorgan University, Trefforest, Wales, UK “Art is my job and I am an Art educator, so it’s very hard for me to be
“Mainly socialising and computer games, I suppose. I love the alternate outside of art in my daily life. However, in the short times that I don’t
realities that games present you with, where you can escape for a short work on art, I have an interest in making research about geography and
time and be immersed in someone else’s worlds and imaginings. But I
also write alot; mainly my own fictions based in a world which I have been
developing for a long time, and this helps me to focus on something else
for a while.”
Sasha Podogrny
Designer, http://tiro.by, Belorus, Minsk
“Does it happen? I draw and paint from life. I like watching movies, such
as Tarkovskij’s ‘Andrej Rublev’.”
Simon Legrand
“I take time out from 3D with 2D! But my beautiful girlfriend is probably my
best “breath of fresh air”. Going to the gym regularly is also a great way for
me to switch off.”
Tim Warnock
Senior Matte Painter, Intelligent Creatures, Toronto Ontario, Canada
“Three months ago I would have said that I don’t really. I have the
tendency to live a bit of an unbalanced life, but my wife and I had our first
child in October and I have had to make a few adjustments. I really love
my work so it is hard to set it aside, but when I do these days it usually
involves hanging out with my family, watching movies and changing my
son, Liam’s diapers.”

Taking Time Out
world history topics. Computers have been an do photography from time to time, but that’s also things which are both fun and improve my
important part of my life since childhood. When art. Art is what I live on, breathe on and draw on. creativity.”
I was a kid, I had a Commodore 64. After that, Sometimes I eat…”
I bought an Amiga. I’m still playing old games! Coming next month: we ask
I like some of the new PC games, such as Y. Soner Yurtseven artists...
“Starcraft”, “Heroes of Might and Magic” and “I follow other artists’ artworks, watch animated
“Half-Life” - they are my favourite games. If I films and talk about them with my fiancee. We “What artwork has moved
find time, I also play strategic games during my also create new concepts and projects together. you emotionally/mentally,
weekends.” I love to be with our cats and dove. I like doing and why?”
Vinegar
Freelance Artist, Warsaw, Poland
“Just like everybody else resting from work,
I guess; meeting people, taking a walk...
although it’s hard to say I get separated from it
as everything can be, and is, an inspiration, so
if you’re any kind of creator then ideas are just
coming from everywhere!”
Vitaly S. Alexius
Freelance Illustrator, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“You don’t take time out of art, you put time in! I

10 of the Best The Galleries
This Month we Feature:

Kerem Beyit
Kieran Yanner
Tom Arthur Opasinski
Tiberius Viris
Teng Lin
Bruno Werneck
Benita Winckler
Lorin Wood
Denis Zilber
David Munoz Velazquez
The Galleries 10 of the Best
Adventures of Rabbit
Teng Lin
www.tianruidm.com
linteng1981@hotmail.com
Colonies
Lorin Wood
www.lorinwood.com
lorin.wood@gmail.com

Scouring the Dungeons
Kerem Beyit
www.kerembeyit.deviantart.com/
kerembeyit@hotmail.com
The Aviator
Bruno Werneck
www.brunowerneck.com
contact@brunowerneck.com
You can follow an in-depth interview with this

artist in the October issue of 2DArtist Magazine!

Laiwan
Copyright © Moonstone Books
Kieran Yanner
www.kieranyanner.com
Kieran@KieranYanner.com
Visiting Mother-in-law
Denis Zilber
www.deniszilber.com/
mail@deniszilber.com

www.tom-arthur-opasinski.com
www@tom-arthur-opasinski.com

Dragonmist
Tiberius Viris
suirebit@kingofhouston.com
Follow Me Image Title
Benita Winckler Artist Name
www.eeanee.com Website Address
benita@eeanee.com eMail Address

700 Light Years Away
David Munoz Velazquez
www.munozvelazquez.com/
munozvelazquez@gmail.com
Image Title Image Title

Artist Name Artist Name
Website Address Website Address
eMail Address eMail Address
We Treasure
a Good Eye.
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2DArtist Magazine introduces the
‘Challenge’ section of the magazine.
Every month we will run the Challenges,
available for anyone to enter for prizes
and goodies from the www.3dtotal.com
shop, and to also get featured in this
very magazine! The 2D Challenge runs
in the ConceptArt.org forums and the
3D challenge, runs in the Threedy.com
forums. Here we will display the winners
from the previous month’s challenge and
the Making Ofs from the month before
that...
Hyena Stylised Animal challenge
In Association with
Stylised Animal Challenge Hyena
The Challenge
Welcome to the Stylised Animal Monthly Challenge. Each month, we will
select an animal and post some images in the forum thread as reference.
All you have to do is to create a 2D image of this creature in a stylised/
abstract/cartoon style, whilst keeping your creature instantly recognisable.
We wanted to publish some content in 2DArtist Magazine on how to
create stylised animals, such as you see in the many feature films and
cartoon galleries. We thought this regular competition might bring in just
the images and Making Ofs that we need, whilst giving away great prizes
and exposure. If it continues in success, we will try to boost the prizes as
much as possible! This month’s animal was the Hyena. Here you can see
the top nine entries, as voted for by the public...
9th Asita
8th Aviv Or avivor@gmail.com 8th Camara

Hyena Stylised Animal Challenge
6th 28th Wing
7th Péter Temesi, aka Hopsy hopsy@t-online.hu
What are we looking for?

Funny and humorous entries which break the animal down to its most
recognisable components; emphasise these in whichever ways you think
best, and render your stylised/abstract/cartoon masterpiece. The rules are
pretty laid back: please submit 1 x 2D render (minor post work is OK); it’s
up to you if you want to have a background or include graphical elements
or text on your image. Renders of the 800 pixel dimension sound about
right, but the winners will be featured in 2DArtist Magazine, so if you can
create some higher resolution images, too - all the better! There will be
one competition per month, with the deadline being the end of the month
(GMT). For a valid entry, just make sure your final image is posted in the
main competition thread before the deadline. We require the top 3 winners
to submit Making Of overview articles that will be shown on either 3DTotal
5th Kai Schüttler 13Lord@web.de

4th Daveneale davejneale@hotmail.com 3rd Cakeypigdog jakegumbleton@hotmail.com
or in 2DArtist magazine. These need to show the stages of your creation,

different elements and some brief explanation text of why, and how, you
did what you did. We will format this into some nice-looking pages to give
you some great exposure, and us some quality content! Each competition
will have one main thread which starts with the brief at the top. All entrants
should post all WIPs, give feedback and generally laugh at the crazy ideas
that are emerging each month...
Challenge Thread
The entire Hyena competition can be viewed here.
The current challenge at the voting stage is:
Dinosaur: Herbivore
The current challenge taking place is:
Dinosaur: Carnivore
To join the next challenge, or to view previous and/or current entries,
please visit: www.conceptart.org
Or, for the 3D Challenge, please visit: www.threedy.com
Or contact: lynette@zoopublishing.com 2nd Juan Caruso juan_carusoart@yahoo.com

1st Jonatan Iversen-Ejve jonatan.ie@gmail.com

3D Challenge
Here are this month’s top three winning entries from the 3D competition...
2nd Zinkete zinkete@gmail.com
3rd Husam huielbashir@gmail.com
1st Alexandre Aillet alexandre_aillet@hotmail.com

Making Ofs
Here are the Making Of from last month’s top 3
winning entries...
2nd - Juan Caruso

Step 1:
First of all I did some pencil sketches and
selected the one which worked best for me, or
at least made me smile the most (Fig01), and
scanned it in at 200 dpi. Always try to have
fun with the ideation and leave the mental
frustrations behind.
Crocs have a lack of athletic movements, for

example they can’t jump, and so out of context
ideas can give a new personality to this animal.
In a new Multiply layer filled in white, with the

Opacity at 40% over the pencil sketch, I traced
the line art with a brush (Fig02). I deleted the
pencil layer and established a white-filled
background.
Step 2:
In a new layer added I flattened the colours with
a semi-smudge shaped brush, not worrying too
much about the edges. With an irregular shaped
brush I then added some texture for the skin
(Fig03); with the SSS (semi-smudge shaped)
brush, following the direction of the body, I
added the form of the belly and shadows. At this
point I started to make some decisions on the
background colour.

Step 3:
Time to add some props: a hat, some teeth and
an eye - only in the base colour. The tie works
like an accent (Fig04). I added some bright
areas to the belly with the SSS brush. Using the
same brush I also added the shadowed areas
for the props (Fig05) and some highlights to the
eye and the cigar.
Step 4:
For the smoke from the cigar I used the SSS
brush and a low opacity eraser with the SSS
configuration (Fig06a). For the background I
used 2 brushes (Fig06b) to add the effect of a

“messy shrub”. To make the croc stand out, I
added a white contour line. I wasn’t happy with
the colours’ tonalities, so with the Color Balance
option I changed the background and the croc in
order to a warm up the composition.
Juan Caruso
Contact them at:
juan_carusoart@yahoo.com

1st - Chuck,mate
Step 1:
I started out by sketching the main masses of
my little fella very quickly, making sure his pose,
attitude and features were more or less what I
was after - cute, non-threatening and lovable
(Fig01).
Step 2:
On a new layer I drew the croc again - a
little tighter in design and a bit cleaner in
appearance. Based on my initial sketch, I
achieved a clearer vision of what it was I was
trying to convey with this crocodile dude (Fig02).
Step 3:
I filled the croc silhouette shape with a dark
green on a new Multiply layer, and painted in
a lighter green to imply a general light source.
With a custom brush, I created a patterned
texture on the little guy’s back, legs, arms, tail
and head (Fig03).
Step 4:
Here I started painting in the rough flats of the
croc’s features. Refining the shapes,
I painted in the belly parts, more head details,
the teeth, tongue and eyeballs. The under
painting of greens pops out in certain areas,
creating more depth and light and shade for the
curves (Fig04).

Step 5:
I kept painting in more details as I went along,
pushing the forms and light and shade. Using
more custom brushes I created more texture
work. I added the small bumps on the back and
tail, and painted in more details for the face,
mouth and tongue. I used a hard brush to paint
in the flat background colour to frame a cleaner
look for my main figure. At this point I noticed
that the far side of the mouth looked a bit off,
and so I fixed this by painting that part further
into the flat background colour, where the cheek
used to be (Fig05).
Step 6:
With a custom made brush I gave the
background a nice texture so it didn’t look
too dull, and so it would somewhat speak the
same language of the croc’s texture. I added a

shadow cast by the crocodile, and with a Blur
filter I gave the little buddy’s tail some life of its
own (Fig06).
Final Touches
Here I just added in more detail work on the
background and shadow, the croc’s mouth,
and added some nice drool on his tongue. On
a new Color layer I filled in a cool purple colour
and lowered the opacity of that layer. This
gave the overall colour scheme a more unified
appearance and softened the harshness of
the greens a little. As a final touch of humour
I painted in a little bee hovering above, which
shows some playfulness in the croc’s character
and gave the guy something to look at, with
those googly eyes of his (Fig07).

Patri Balanovsky
http://chuckmate.blogspot.com
Or contact them at:
Pat2005b@hotmail.com
1st - Daveneale
Introduction:
Well this was fun all-round, and joint first is very
cool! I learnt a lot from this one, and had a lot of
fun with it, too.
The Making Of:

After finding a bunch of images of crocs on
Google, I got going with the picture. I’ve always
loved the above/below water thing; whether it be
cool photos of tropical coral or a cool fish tank
set up at the zoo - I just love the juxtaposition of
the two worlds, side by side. I wanted to capture
this in the image, but other than that there was
no planning (Fig01).
To start off with, I decided on the colours I

wanted to use and got to messing about with
some kind of background. I was mainly just

playing with some custom brushes at this point
and trying to keep the colour scheme something
that I liked (Fig02).
I then continued to add the background

elements, but also roughed in the croc - no
planning with it though, I just went with the flow
of the background and went for a pose that I
thought was cool. I knew that I wanted to have
the eye as the main focus along with only very
different hues in this image, so I used this as a
starting point (Fig03).
My choices of brushes in this image were

central to the success of the image; rather than
trying to make brushes I already had work in
the image, I made the brushes for the image. I
basically studied the reference I was using and
came up with some brushes that would produce
similar shapes when applied to those that I saw
in the photographs. It was an interesting thing to
do, and I think it turned out pretty well (Fig04).

I have taken to flipping my canvas whilst
working on an image; it’s something I’ve picked
up from other tutorials and demos that I’ve
seen, and it really helps me get a fresh eye on
the piece I’m working on, as often I find myself
totally immersed in a picture which can mean
that stuff I’d notice right away in someone
else’s work (wonky perspectives or misplaced
elements) totally eludes me (Fig05).
I just kept working on the image here; there’s no

real secret, I was just using my custom brushes
and the Photoshop standard hard round brush
(with opacity set to Pen Pressure) to work out
details, add some highlights and add the water
(Fig06).
I then went on to add the final touches; adding

some reflections from the water, putting the
roots of a mangrove in the background, and also

using a Levels layer to push the lights and the
darks (something I do at the end of almost every
picture) (Fig07).
Finally, I flipped back to the other orientation (I

just like this side more), made a hue change to
the underwater to differentiate better between
the above/below water divide, and I was done.
Also notice that I’ve taken out that light plant in
the bottom corner - it just wasn’t working for me.
Another fun image produced! Well done to all

the other guys in this challenge - this was an
awesome round!
David Neale
Contact them at:
davejneale@hotmail.com
Custom Brushes
“...try learning how to
paint clouds by just using
a normal round brush,
or painting scratches in
metal, or smoke. Custom
brushes are just a tool,
not a replacement for the
fundamentals that every
artist should learn.”
Mike Lim, aka

Daarken, talks you
through this Custom
Brushes tutorial,
explaining how to
create your own
brushes and how they
can be applied to your
own artworks...
Tutorial Custom Brushes
Custom Brushes Revisited

by Daarken
In the past I created a custom brush tutorial
in which I showed you how to make your own
brushes. I figured I would start out again by
showing these steps since some people may
have not seen the other tutorial. After that I will
show a few brushes that I like using, as well as
how to create some effects using these brushes.
These brushes are included at the end of the
tutorial, so you can download them and follow
along.
Most of the time I use only a few brushes, but

some occasions call for me to make a specific
brush (like the chain mail brush). Sometimes Let’s start out by making a brush. I want to that big of a deal since we can fix that later on
I will create a brush that I will continue to use make a brush that I can use to add texture to with the brush controls. After you are happy with
throughout my career, but most of the time I my illustration, like some scratches on metal or what you have, go to Edit > Define Brush Preset
will make a specific brush to handle one type of texture on bricks (Fig01). I start out by making (Fig02). This will capture the image as a brush.
effect for a specific illustration that I am working some random marks on a blank canvas. Try not Make sure you have the brush tool selected
on. to make the pattern repeat too much, but it isn’t (short-cut key, B) and then right-click on the

Custom Brushes Tutorial
canvas. A window will pop up with your brushes
(Fig03). The brush you just created will be at
the end of that list. Now that you have created
the brush you can begin to plan with the brush
controls.
Click on Shape Dynamics (Fig04). This is where

you can alter the shape controls of the brush,
such as Size Jitter and Angle. By using these
features you can make your brush look more
natural and not like a repeated pattern. The next
option I select is Scattering (Fig05). Here you
can kind of “pull” the brush apart, or scatter it,
so that you don’t have to paint with a single row
of paint. I also click on Other Dynamics and set
the Opacity to Pen Pressure. The brush is pretty In this example (Fig08), I used the brush to add
much done and ready to go now (Fig06 - 07). some texture to the metal of the armour, as can
In order to save the changes you have just be seen. The next brush I want to talk about is
made to the brush, right-click on the canvas. a brush that I got from someone at work. This
The brush dialogue box will pop up. Click on the brush was made specifically for painting clouds.
little paper icon in the upper right hand corner of This brush is great. It makes painting clouds
the window. This will save your brush and stick very easy and you can get a fairly good result
it at the bottom of the brush list. very quickly.

Tutorial Custom Brushes
I start out by making some strokes with the
brush (Fig09), trying to add both small and
large shapes. Next I add some shadowed areas
beneath the clouds and begin to refine more
of the shapes (Fig10 - 12). After only a few
seconds I have a decent representation of some
clouds.
Before I wrap up the tutorial, I just wanted so

show a few brushes that I use fairly often...
The first brush is also pretty good at making

clouds, as well as smoke. I also use this brush
to lay in background textures (Fig13).
This brush is one of the brushes that I use the

most. The main function I use this brush for is to
lay down the basic shapes of armour. Since this
brush already has a lot of texture it is a good
starting point for painting metal (Fig14).
I think this brush is actually just a Photoshop

default brush, but all of my illustrations are done
with this brush! I like it because it has a little bit
of a natural brush feel to it, and at the same time
you can still get sharp lines. It is also very good
for painting the different planes of an object.
(Fig15).
This next brush is something that I made a long

time ago for painting backgrounds. I think I
made this brush from a photograph that I found
of a water wave (Fig16).

Custom Brushes Tutorial
This is a brush that I found on the Internet. I like
to use this brush for painting hair. It has some
random qualities because the Angle Jitter (under
Shape Dynamics) is set to Pen Pressure, which
helps to achieve some of that randomness that’s
found in hair (Fig17). (Note: this brush is not
available as a download with this tutorial.)
As you can see, creating custom brushes is

quick and easy and can add a lot of character
to your illustration, but always learn how to paint
textures without having to rely on a special
brush. Try learning how to paint clouds by
just using a normal round brush, or painting
scratches in metal, or smoke. Custom brushes
are just a tool, not a replacement for the
fundamentals that every artist should learn.
Daarken
For more from this artist visit:
www.daarken.com
Or contact:
daarkenart@daarken.com

SynthEyes 2007 ½
3-D Camera Tracking Software
Now with
I M A G E S T A BILIZATION
Maybe you are shooting hand-held, and need a more professional look. Maybe you are using other stabili-
zation software, but are tired of limited functionality, poor tracking, or strange geometric distortions in the
results. We’ve got the cure!
SynthEyes now includes an awesome image stabilizing system, based on SynthEyes’s famously fast and
accurate tracking. Integrating auto-tracking and stabilization makes for a terrifically fast workflow, and
means we can do all the sophisticated things to produce the highest-quality images possible. We added
the flexibility to nail shots in place, but also to stabilize traveling shots. Then, piled on a full set of controls
so you can direct the stabilization: to change shot framing, add life, or minimize the impact of big bumps
in the footage. Since you’ve got other things to do, we multi-threaded it for outstanding performance on
modern multi-core processors.
We didn’t forget about pure camera tracking either. SynthEyes 2007½ adds single-frame alignment for
nodal tripod and lock-off shots; a way to add many accurate trackers after an initial solve, for mesh build-
ing; a way to coalesce co-located trackers, perfect for green-screen tracking; and about 50 other things.
One thing we didn’t change—our incredible price:
"I used SynthEyes exclusively while working on Pan's

Labyrinth, and the CG Supervisor was continually amazed
at how I was blowing their deadlines clean out of the water.
I used the zero-weight points to model many surfaces
$399
which needed to be very accurate, so that a 3-D stick bug
could walk across them.” — Scott Krehbiel
“2D at FUEL used SynthEyes for a few especially gnarly

shots during Charlotte's Web. For $399 and a couple of
hours invested in the docs, our compositors can solve a
camera for almost any shot. SynthEyes is smoking fast,
Other recent credits: Apocalypto, Bridge to easy to understand and the support is phenomenal.”
Terabithia, Casino Royale, Deja Vu, Next, — Sam Cole, FUEL
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,
Pursuit of Happyness, Spiderman 3, Zodiac
See the website for more details on ANDERSSON TECHNOLOGIES LLC

SynthEyes’s amazing feature list. For more information and free demo:
25+ Exporters included standard. http://www.ssontech.com
Fourth year in the market,
PC/PC 64-Bit/Intel Mac/PowerPC Mac serving VFX artists in over 40 countries
Welcome to the Speed Painting section
of the magazine. We’ve asked not two,
but three artists this month to produce
a speed painting based on a simple,
one-line brief. Here we feature the
final paintings and the overview of the
creation processes.
This month, Mike Corriero,

Emrah Elmasli and Mikko Kinnunen
tackle the topic:
of
The citizens
the flooded
city now
resided in
the tallest
buildings
connected
by makeshift
The citizens of the flooded city now resided in the tallest buildings connected by makeshift bridges Speed Painting
Introduction
Touching on a subject that involves some
architecture for a speed painting can either
be extremely simple or extremely difficult;
it all depends on how you handle it. If the
architecture is meant to be abstract it’s likely you
may more easily get away with a lot of technical
details. If you choose to produce a more modern
or less complex style of architecture you can
make it easier on yourself with creating a few
quick custom brushes.
As a first step you can see I have just set up my instead of going back and forth to the Colour
canvas with the horizon line, a couple of simple Picker window (Fig01).
perspective lines and a base for the water and
sky. To the right is a reference image that, Under the brush presets you can adjust a lot of
although won’t set the basis for my designs, the settings to get endless effects. This is just
will just help keep me on track when working a simple brush I use a lot, called an “Airbrush
quicker than usual. Then I have just set up a Pen Opacity Flow” brush; with the brush shape
small colour palette to sample some hues from, flattened and the scatter option applied it will

Speed Painting The citizens of the flooded city now resided in the tallest buildings connected by makeshift bridges
serve as water ripples. You can also apply
Colour Dynamics and play around with the
brightness and contrast and the two colour
boxes, so you’ll get a nice mixture of values
and colour shifts without switching your settings
(Fig02).
Only a few minutes in and I’ve laid down a quick

base for the water, light for the sky and some
clouds. This will be worked on top of and always
kept as the background layer with the simplest
of details and the main base. As I laid the water
lines down I made sure just to keep a couple of
layers and size variation in perspective and in
line with my grid (Fig03a).
The colour palette can be seen in Fig03b.

Producing a colour palette like this is sometimes
much more affective than randomly choosing
colours off of the Colour Picker window. All I did
was take a photo that had a nice colour scheme
that I wanted to apply to my painting, added a
quick smart blur and the pinch filter.
Quickly laying in the large main elements in The brush list is a quickly created group of
the foreground, I’m using a custom brush from boxed brushes. They were not all used but it’s
a set of construction boxed brushes I made nice to have them handy so that when you begin
for this very purpose. A quick and easy way to painting you have most elements and shapes
produce a speed painting involving architectural already set up . The presets have been kept
designs such as buildings is by laying down off because with all of these brush shapes I am
a perspective grid and using custom brushes. playing around a lot with the angles, the spacing
I’ve set the Brush Presets so that the spacing and the sizes to produce my buildings and
of my brush is far enough apart to produce a bridges (Fig04b).
kind of pattern effect. Just click one spot on the
canvas then hold shift and click where you want On a new layer some small buildings and
your brush stroke to head. You’ll get a perfectly minimal detail are added to the far background;
straight line, and with the spaced brush it will notice as the buildings are pushed back further
give you an interesting design effect (Fig04a). the value has become lighter and details are

lessened. I’m keeping each plane of buildings keeping the base lighter around the object
on their own layer for when I produce the where it connects and meets the water will help
reflective effects in the water (Fig05). distinguish the reflection from its origin (Fig 06).
I’ve started to beef up some of the details on Here you can see how I’ve copy-flipped the
the buildings, mainly in the background first of buildings after their details; the bridges and
all, as I start to produce reflections and water windows were added and then set the reflective
ripples. A very quick and easy way to produce layer to a lower opacity. Checking out the
a reflection is to simply copy the layer and flip it painting at 100 percent resolution you would
vertically, then just lower the opacity, darken the see how choppy and simple the water effect
colours and overlay a few water ripples. Usually is, as shown in Fig02. Increasing the size and
lining the base of the buildings with a more

scattered version will help provide a splashed
look (Fig07).
At this point I have flipped the painting to check

the composition and decided it would be more
interesting to cut down the second foremost
building so that we can see the base swallowed
up by the flooding waters (Fig08).
Here I have just utilised one of my custom

brushes to lay in some foreground bridges.
All throughout the painting process I’ve been

keeping most of this monochromatic and will
apply a touch of additional colour towards the
next few final stages (Fig09).
Once most of the painting has been completed

I’m just going to do a quick level adjustment. It
doesn’t always work, but using the Auto Levels
option can quickly adjust the values and might
produce an affective change. In this case I
like what it has done and will keep most of the
changes it made (Fig10).
Coming down to the final stage here, what

you’re seeing is just some colour applied on a
new layer set to Colour, then using my colour
palette I’ve just painted some warm lighting in
the background and pumped up the saturation
in a few key areas. The entire painting was
widened on the edges so as not to lose some
elements when I decided to give a tilt to the
composition, adding a bit more dynamic to the
perspective (Fig11).
Final Touches
Final steps taken to bring this speed painting
to a final image included the addition of some

important details for scale. I’ve added railings

and stairs to the bridges, touched up some
of the rooftop textures and lighting, added a
few figures in the foreground, some satellites
for communication, as well as a billboard.
Last minute adjustments to the values and
saturation are made specifically to the sun,
and this painting of a flooded, high, sky-rise
city connected by makeshift bridges, in what
has become a near future disaster scene, is
complete (Fig12).
Mike Corriero
www.mikecorriero.com
Or contact:
mikecorriero@gmail.com
Step 1
As the first step, I open up a new canvas in
Photoshop CS3 and select the Gradient Tool (G)
to create a sky colour gradient to achieve a feel
for the painting. Starting to paint on a full canvas
is better then painting on an empty canvas. I
preferred a purple and grey combination for this
painting, but it would be nice as blue and pink, as
well. It’s your choice really (Fig01).
Step 2
Then I start blocking the colours in with a bold
brush. I paint in the silhouettes of the buildings
very roughly. I add some tall buildings to the far
distance to achieve a nice depth of field feel, as
well. I never zoom in at the first step. I always

paint at 25% or 50% percent. I also need to get
the composition right in this step. It’s not easy to
fix it later on (Fig02).
Step 3
I start to add some colours to increase the
saturation and I also apply the main light
source from the left hand side. This is a speed
painting so the time is important. The aim is
to get satisfactory results in a short amount of
time. So, my brush strokes are very fast. I was
planning to finish the painting in an hour, but I
decided to put some more details on it (Fig03).

Step 4
Now the rest is just adding the details and
adjusting the colours. I need some contrast
and colour richness in my painting, so I create
some adjustment layers like Curves and Colour
Balance to adjust the brightness, contrast and
colours (Ctrl + M; Ctrl + B). Then I paint in some
dramatic clouds. A mixture of purple, orange
and yellow would be good for this. I used some
custom brushes that I created whilst painting
them. The rest of the painting needs a lot of
That’s it: 90 minutes work in total.
Emrah Elmasli
www.partycule.com
Or contact:
emrah@partycule.com
detail, so I just paint in a lot of minor details on

the building. Any brush of your choice would do
(Fig04a & b).
Final
As the final step, I zoom in and add little lights
and details of the flood verses the city. To make
the lights glow, I create a new layer and change
the layer properties to Colour Dodge. Then I
select a dark orange-ish colour and paint them
in with a default brush.
Introduction
In this Speed Painting tutorial I’m going to
explain a little about the use of 3D tools in
the process of designing an image. Most of
the best 2D artists I’ve met do not like to use
3D that much. Many won’t even touch these
applications for whatever reasons. I was one of
those guys, until I was forced to move into the
3D world when I got my first, proper job in the
games industry. I’m going to show a process
that is almost invisible in the actual finished
image, yet helped me a lot when nailing down
the composition of this speed painting.
Quick Composition
In a matter of minutes (or seconds, depending) I
create a quick sketch which includes most of the
relevant compositional information regarding my
painting. I start off with a long, cubic shape on
the left, which will eventually become my major
makeshift bridge, as suggested by the title. I’m
not worrying at all about screwing things up at
this point. It’s always better to work intuitively
in the beginning, unless you’re working under

the very specific constraints of a professional
assignment (Fig01).
The Dreadful 3D Part

Having envisioned the basic premise of the
composition in my mind, I start putting together
a scene of very simple box geometry in 3ds
Max. I’m not going into specifics of any 3D
application here, as there are better tutorials for
that. I basically just create a flat ground plane,
a few repeated box shapes, and a camera
setup with a wide-angle lens which suits my
needs the best. Then I put in two light sources
from opposing directions, with the sun being
the stronger one. The other would be the fill

light from the sky. I don’t use any heavy global
illumination-type settings which would make the
image take a while to render. I hit the render
button and make sure I have enough resolution
so that I won’t get too much pixelation (aliasing)
around the edges (Fig02).
Blocking in the Colours

After my 3D layout is finished, I start glazing
colours on top of it in Photoshop. I use a mixture
of opaque and transparent layers whilst trying
to find the kind of colours I’m intending to use
in this piece. My approach is very experimental,
and I’m not afraid to use tools like the Selective
Colour adjustment layer to find the right tones.
This time I’m going for a very stylised red and
blue palette. I proceed with the colouring, the image as a .tif file, and open it in Painter result without any 3D, by using more traditional
always thinking in warms and cools (Fig03). Essentials 2. It’s a free app. that came with my perspective drawing, and you might do the
Wacom tablet. Basically, any version of Painter blending with some custom smudge brushes in
Wrapping it Up has this great brush engine which is good for Photoshop. I just like to shuffle my software a bit
This is the most defining stage in terms of blending. I start using the Palette Knife brushes and use everything I can to the full extent. It’s
the final style of the image. I go for this rather to soften my rather straightfoward and edgy all about getting your creative vision across, and
graphic and painterly style, with strong shadows Photoshop colouring. There isn’t really one you shouldn’t let the sometimes clumsy digital
and a lot of saturation. I save a version of way to do this; you could achieve the same tools hold you down!
Mikko Kinnunen
www.artbymikko.com
Or contact:
mikko@artbymikko.com

“You can create a texture
from practically anything;
what I’m going to focus on Scanned Textures to your 2D Artwork Creating and Applying
here though are textures
you can draw and scan, as
well as household items
you can take from the Mike Corriero has
kitchen, bathroom or living created a guide for

beginners, which
room...” takes you through the
process of creating
and applying scanned
textures to your 2D
artworks. He explains,
step-by-step, how to
get the most out of
your textures...
Creating and Applying Scanned Textures to your 2D Artwork
Created In:
Photoshop
Introduction
This is a guide for beginners, taking you through
the process of scanning real world patterns from
such elements as feathers to tinfoil, as you’ll see
in this tutorial. I’ll explain how to get the most out
of your textures, how to save them as a texture
set and how to apply them in various ways to an
object that you are painting.
Step 01
You can create a texture from practically
anything; what I’m going to focus on here
though are textures you can draw and scan, as
well as household items that you can take from

the kitchen, bathroom or living room. Some or
most of these items you may already have and
you can find lying around the house; others you
can create, like the crosshatch drawing. The
five textures I’ve used are crumpled tinfoil, a
rubber grip bottle opener, a freehand crosshatch
drawing, feathers used for fly tying, and an
ordinary bathroom hand towel (Fig01).
Step 02
Once you scan in the item, lay it flat on your
scanner and choose Greyscale at 300 dpi for
a large resolution. The next thing you’ll need to
do is to crop the image so it has as few flaws
in variation as possible - you want to make the
texture appear as a pattern. Next you’re going
to go to Image > Adjustments > Levels; in the
Levels box that opens up, adjust the black and

Scanned Textures to your 2D Artwork Creating and Applying
white values to boost the texture of the image.
The darker and lighter your values are the
better the texture will work. Do this by dragging
the black arrow to the right to make the blacks
darker, and the white arrow to the left to make
the whites lighter. I have done this step for each
of the five textures (Fig02).
Step 03
In some cases, like for the crosshatch texture,
I just used the Stamp tool to copy and replicate
portions to expand the size of the texture and
keep it from repeating the same pattern. This
helps instead of wasting too much time drawing
it all out (Fig03).
Step 04
Now that I have my texture scanned, the levels
adjusted and everything’s clean and seamless,
it’s time to save it as a texture. Click on Edit >
Define Pattern > then save the pattern with any
name you wish, i.e. “Crosshatch” (Fig04).
Step 05
If you’d like to test your pattern, grab the brush
tool, head to the top right and click the little
black arrow next to where it says “brushes”. This
will drop down a box with a bunch of options that
you can apply to your brush; in here you’ll find
a box you can tick, called “texture”. You’ll notice
a thumbnail image of the texture that is chosen,
which also has a little tick box, titled “invert”,
to switch the values of the texture. Setting the
scale to 100% will set the texture to the actual pixel size or dpi (dots per
inch); you can lower or raise the scale to suit your needs. I have it set
to 100%, and the depth at 100% as well, in order to get the most out of
my texture. I find that setting the mode to Multiply also works the best for
clarity and a smooth effect when painting with textures. When you invert
your texture you’ll also want to invert or switch the colour from dark to light
by clicking on the double arrow icon (Fig05a & b).

Step 06
This is just a quick demonstration for inverting
a texture and switching the light and dark
values of your colour swatches. It defines the
texture and makes it clearer; this helps when
concerning lighting an object you are painting
(Fig06).
Step 07
I created a simple sphere as an object to test
these textures on. I will provide this object in the
tutorial so you can test and follow along with
these steps, as well. To the right you’ll notice
after repeating steps 01 through 04, for each
texture or real world object they will all show
up in my texture list. You can access your list
by clicking the little arrow next to the texture
thumbnail. Here you can view each of your
textures and save the texture set. Click the
arrow to the right of all your textures and a box
will drop down where you can choose to Save
Patterns. Now, whenever you want you can go
to this same box and choose Load Patterns to
access this set of textures you created (Fig07).
Step 08
Refer back to step 05 for the use of your
textures, then select the Magic Wand tool,
clicking outside the sphere then inverting your
selection to outline the circle. Using the method
explained in Step 05, you can paint any texture
you wish on to your object. I find that setting
your layer above the object to Soft Light mode allows both the texture and
the original values of the object to work best (Fig08).
Step 09
Another more affective way to produce a texture that will appear to wrap
around an object is to create a new Normal layer above the original
sphere. Select a mid-toned grey and fill the selection on the new layer
with the Bucket tool. Now to apply the texture select Filter > Texture >
Texturizer (Fig09).

Scanned Textures to your 2D Artwork Creating and Applying
Step 10
The Texturizer box will open; to the left is
your grey selected area and to the right are
your texture options. To the right of the word
Texture in blue is an arrow; if you click it then
an option appears to browse your files for a
texture. To use your textures in this manner
save your original flat texture files as a PSD file
(Photoshop Document) in the presets textures
folder of Adobe’s files. This folder can be
accessed in your program files section of your
computer. Once you browse and select your
texture file it will apply it to the preview box to
the left. Set the Scaling to 50% and the Relief to
10%, then click OK (Fig10).
Step 11
Now that your texture is applied to the greyscale
selection, make a duplicate by dragging the

layer down to the little icon that looks like a
white square page being flipped. A copy layer
will be made; set the top layer to Overlay at
85% opacity and the bottom layer to Hard Light
at 25% opacity. Right away you’ll notice a big
change in the clarity of the texture compared to
painting it on to the sphere. To further define the
pattern and to have it wrap around the sphere,
choose the selection tool and apply the Select
> Invert technique, as mentioned in step 05, to
select the sphere. In the last step here you’re
going to select Filter > Distort > Spherize, and
set the Spherize box to 80% in order to blow up
the texture, making it appear to wrap around the
object. Do this to both the Overlay and the Dark
Light layers and you’ve successfully applied
your home-made texture to an object in a 3-
dimensional form (Fig11).
Step 12
Shows all five textures applied to the sphere
without the Spherize filter (Fig12).
Step 13
Shows all five textures applied to the sphere
“with” the Spherize filter (Fig13).
Creating and Applying

Scanned Textures to your
2D Artwork
www.mikecorriero.com
Or contact:
mikecorriero@gmail.com

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Digital Painting Tutorial Series : Weather
Issue 21, September - Sandstorm
Issue 22, October - Twister
Issue 23, November - Rainstorm
Issue 24, December - Snowstorm
Issue 25, January - Heat waves

Elements Rainstorm
Created In:
Adobe Photoshop 7
Rainstorm
The first thing we need to do is to grab some
reference images (I always use Google Images
to search) in order to understand how the
colours change in different weather conditions.
Remember that we are only using the reference
photographs as a colour guide for our painting.
In this tutorial I will show you the steps that

I followed in order to transform this base
illustration (Fig01) into a storm scene, but is
essential that you also practice and create your
own techniques, too.
Our first step is to change the ambient colour of

the entire scene. Let’s pick a grey/brown colour
(RGB: 83, 71, 65); this colour is going to give us
the stormy, ambient colour that we are looking
for. Create a new layer (Hard Light 100%) and
fill it with our ambient colour. Do you see how it

changes with only one colour (Fig02)? And this
is only the first step! Let’s continue.
Now we need some clouds. In this step, if you

have a cool cloud picture to hand than you can
use that. If you don’t have one that you can use,
simply make a search for some interesting cloud
images, or take some of your own photographs.
Create a new layer (Overlay 100%) and paste
your cloud picture onto it. Or, if you’re feeling
confident, then try doing it like me and paint
your own clouds! Remember that we must only
paint with this grey colour though on this layer,
because we don’t want to dramatically change
our brown ambient colour (Fig03).

Rainstorm Elements
Create another new layer (Normal 100%) now

in order to add some fog to the mountains in the
distance. In a storm scene such as this then fog
is really important.
The image still looks too bright for a stormy day,

so let’s darken it a little more. Create another
new layer (Overlay 100%), select a Gradient
tool (Foreground to Transparent) and paint the
layer with a dark colour (RGB: 59, 56, 53). Now
it’s looking like a stormy day (Fig04), don’t you
think?
We need to add more fog in the distance now, so select a soft round brush
(Size 300; Opacity 50%) and paint on the horizon line (Fig05).
Now it’s time to add the rain! To paint the rain I created a simple brush
which is available as a download at the end of this tutorial. So, select a
bright rain colour (RGB: 100, 97, 96) and paint over the entire scene using
the rain brush, trying to put more rain on the horizon line (Fig06).
In a new layer we are now going to add a wet effect to the trash can in the
foreground. With just a few white strokes in the area where the light hits

Elements Rainstorm
the trash can, and a simple reflection/back light We still need to add the reflection from the farm
on the back of it, we will achieve a nice wet-look and the trash can over our wet floor. This step
effect (Fig07). is very important so pay attention here. Create
a new layer and merge the visible layers (Shift
To increase the wet/rain effect we have to add + Ctrl + Alt +E). Now you have all the painting in
water splashes, too. I created another simple one unique layer, but you can still see that other
brush for this effect, as well (this brush doesn’t layer are there, too! Select the farm and the
have any special configurations). So, select the trash can with the Lasso tool, Ctrl + J and we
brush, create another new layer and paint in the will automatically obtain a copy of our selection
little rain splashes around the trash can. in a new layer (Fig08).
Now go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical,

move the duplicated trash can and farm to
the base of its original ones, and erase the
edges with a soft round brush. You should
obtain a similar result to what can be seen in
Fig09. To increase the reflection, change the
Layer properties to Overlay; this will create the
reflection effect on the floor.
Let’s now add our lightning to this storm scene!

First of all, we have to darken the top of our
painting a little more, because the lightning
needs some contrast.

Rainstorm Elements
Create another new layer, pick a darker colour
(RGB: 65, 61, 59) and paint again using the
Gradient tool over this new layer. Change the
properties of the layer to Overlay and reduce
the Opacity to 50%. Now we can easily paint a
couple of highlights over this dark sky.
To create the lightning in this storm you’ll have

to paint an irregular shape in a bright colour; you
can then smooth the top of the lightning, as if it
is coming from inside the clouds (Fig10).
Create another new layer (Normal) and add

the first lightning glow (yes, we will add another
one in just a couple of minutes) with a soft
round brush. To increase the light effect, add a
reflection to the base of the clouds. Create an
Overlay layer and paint the second glow effect
with white over the lightning. You can see the
difference of some lightning with a glow and
without, in Fig11a & b.
And for the final step we are going to add a

technique that I always use to add texture to a
painting and increase the shadow. Create a new
layer and merge all the visible layers again. Do
you remember how to do this? Shift + Ctrl + Alt
+ E. Now we have the entire scene merged, go
to Image > Adjustments > Threshold and play
with it until you obtain a result similar to Fig12.
Do you see how it looks as and old ‘ink

painting’? Well this technique is good in order to
see if your painting has good light and shadow
work.
Now select this new black and white layer and

change its properties to Multiply. We have to
reduce the Opacity to 5% in this particular case,
but remember that if you use this technique then
the maximum opacity is something like 15%,
because you don’t want to cover all of your cool
paintings.

Well I think we can now say that this image is
finished! I hope this tutorial has helped you to
try some of these steps or techniques in your
images. Practice every day and force yourself to
speed up your skills, because in this business
the speed and quality are very important!
Twister
Previous month:
Next month: Snowstorm
Carlos Cabrera
www.carloscabrera.com.ar
Or contact:
sayhi@carloscabrera.com.ar
“So you have painted this lovely
woman with beautiful eyes
and an even more lovely face,
Tutorial How To Paint Lips even
have maybe WorthusedKissing
one of
the current tutorials to attach
some wonderful hair to her, and
now realise what you have so
patiently avoided, until it could
no longer be ignored... take a
deep breath... the lips!”
In this tutorial, Anne

Pogoda takes
us through some
interesting steps on
how to paint
“kissable” lips...
How To Paint Lips Worth Kissing Tutorial
Created In: Photoshop

Photoshop Creative Suite
How To Paint Lips Worth

Kissing
So you have painted this lovely woman with
beautiful eyes and an even more lovely face,
have maybe even used one of the current
tutorials to attach some wonderful hair to her,
and now realise what you have so patiently
avoided, until it could no longer be ignored...
take a deep breath... the lips!
Besides all mentioned, the lips is what really

makes a female illustration, especially when
you’re looking for the kind of “kiss me” pop
out lips which may drive one or another man
crazy whilst observing them. To learn painting
lips at their best, I have decided to make up
two examples for you in two different colour
schemes and angles, so that you have the best
base for your future female paintings. We also
have an immense number of working steps
this time, which means that I cannot add as
much “jibber jabber” to the whole article as I am
usually used to, but I think the pictures do speak for themselves enough to
survive a less detailed description than usual.
Example 1
Step 1 – The Base For The Lips
Alright, let’s start. Pick the red colour of your desire and a hard-edged
airbrush - Spacing 0%, Opacity 100% and the size of your desire - to paint
in a basic lip shape, which you will then separate with a curvy line of dark
red. So you have an upper and lower lip now, in a very basic shape. To

Tutorial How To Paint Lips Worth Kissing
give the lips an illusion of depth, it works best
to make them cast a shadow (see Fig01) and to
add some highlights to the surrounding skin.
Step 2 – First Highlights

Stick with the hard-edged airbrush - the Opacity
can be between 90% and 100% - and attach
the first highlights to the lips with a bright red
or a soft pink. You can also pick a red which is
slightly darker than the basic reddish colour of
the lips to attach some at the lower side of the
upper lip and at the lower side of the lower lip
(Fig02).
Step 3 – Further Highlights

Now we’re going to add some “pop out”
highlights. Still using the hard-edged airbrush,
but of a smaller size, choose one part of the

lips to which you will attach a very bright white
highlight and then randomly spread some other
highlights on the upper and lower lip. We will
merge the lip layers 1, 2 and 3 now to save
working capacity. Simply press Ctrl + E whilst
you are on the lips layer 3 and it will merge layer
3 with layer 2. Whilst you’re on layer 2, press
Ctrl + E again to merge it with layer 1 (Fig03).
Step 4 – Soften It Up
In step 4 we will create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift
+ N, or Layer > New > Layer) and pick the soft-
edged airbrush with an opacity of 30% to soften
the “edgy” borders between each colour, which
were caused by the hard-edged airbrush. Pick
your basic red again to work near all highlighted
areas of the lips. The darker red is for the lower
part of the lower lip which is closest to the
shadow, and for the lower part of the upper lip
which is closest to the line between both lips
(Fig04).
Step 5 – Working On First Detail

Now it’s detail time! Pick the hard-edged
airbrush again and set it to a rather small size
of your desire. Create a new layer and attach
many little white dots and strokes to the lips.
The strokes should be bent so that they follow

the roundness of the lips. It also works best if
you paint dots which vary in size, to avoid the lip
structure looking boring (Fig05).
Step 6 – Soften It Up Again

Create another new layer and pick the soft-
edged airbrush again. The size should be as
seen in my example (Fig06), compared to the
size of the lips; the opacity should be no more
than 30%. Carefully work over the lower part
of the highlighted areas. You can compare it
to step 5 if you want: do you see how the little
strokes and dots seem to form a clearer lip
structure now?
Step 7 – More And More Detail

If you want, you can merge the layers from
steps 5 and 6 now by pressing Ctrl + E, to avoid
being overwhelmed by layers. Don’t forget to
create a new layer for the detail which we will
be adding now. You can either take a small,

hard-edged airbrush, or a small, speckled brush
(like the one we created in the hair beginners
tutorial in Issue 019 of 2DArtist) and paint many
little whitish strokes and dots on the lips. As you
can see, I did this very randomly in Fig07. Don’t
worry, it’ll look good in the end! You can also
add some small highlights to the lips (Fig07).
Step 8 – The Final Touch Up

Pick the soft-edged airbrush again - opacity set
to no more than 30% - and set it to a size which
is the same as in my example, compared to the
size of the lips. Now pick a reddish tone which
is slightly brighter than the basic red which you
have used for the first shape of the lips, and
carefully work over the lower part of the lower
lip. Now pick a whitish tone and carefully add a
few more highlights to the top of the lower lip.
And you’re done now (Fig08).
The image, “Red Apple”, from this example

(Final Image), was actually painted for a friend
as a birthday present, called “Desert”. It was
later taken from my private collection to be
adapted for this tutorial. The actual painting
was meant as a homage to the great Catherine
Louis’s ‘Green Apple’ series.
Example 2
Step 1 – A Base For The Lips Again
Let’s continue with example two, now. This time
we want to paint lips in a ¾ view. Unlike the first
example, which was basically held in reddish
tones, the current example lives from blueish
background tones which hold a contrast to the
pinkish lips and skin tones. So the lips will be set

up from a basic pinkish colour scheme this time,
again separated with a rather dark red, curvy
line to divide it all into the upper and lower lip.
The brush of choice is, again, the hard-edged
airbrush - Opacity 100% and Spacing 0%
(Fig01).
Step 2 – Adding Highlights

Stick with the hard-edged airbrush again to
attach some highlights to the lips. I have marked
which colours were used for which area on
Fig02. You can also see that I painted some
basic teeth in; they are basically just two big
strokes in a red which is a little brighter than the

red that was used to separate the upper and
lower lip.
Step 3 – Adding Strokes And Dots

What we’ll do now is add some strokes and a
few dots to the lips, which is quite simple but will
make them ‘pop out’ more. Adding some dabs
of highlight will make the lips look glossy. Also,
picking a dark red to carefully work on the lips
with curved lines which follow their shape adds
detail and makes them seem more realistic. You
can also feel free to add a few lines of highlights
to the lower lip to add more detail to them, too
(Fig03).
Step 4 – It’s Blending Time Again

Now, since we have so nicely worked in some
detail into the lips, it is time to soften the whole
thing up again. But, first of all, you can merge
all current lips layers to save working capacity,
again. Then you can create a new layer to
work over the lips with the soft-edged airbrush
- Opacity 30%. This merges the colours together
and you will get away from the “edgy vector”
look. It will also take away some of the detail,
but don’t worry, we’ll bring that back in steps 5
and 6 (Fig04).

Step 5 – Applying More Strokes To Push The

Detail
If you want you can merge the layers again now
by pressing Ctrl + E. Like in example 1, you can
either take a small, hard-edged airbrush, or a
small, speckled brush to paint many little whitish
strokes on the lips. You can also add some
additional highlights to get the lips popping out
effectively again (Fig05).
Step 6 – Finished. This One was Quick!

You can now use the speckled brush, or basically
any hard-edged brush of a very small size, to
paint many little dots in your highlight colour of
choice on the lips, to finish them up.
Now this was a quick one, wasn’t it? That is the

good thing about lips: as soon as you attach a
lot of highlights to them, like in example two,
you will get such a great pop out effect that the
eye of the viewer gets mixed up and so won’t
recognise the “lack of detail” (Fig06).
How To Paint Lips Worth

Kissing, by Anne Pogoda
www.darktownart.de
Or contact:
wpwebmasterin@web.de

“I remember being very
intrigued by the use of 3D
as reference for creating
concept illustrations.
Having the chance to see
these professionals at
work really created the
initial spark I needed
to test the waters on my
own...”
Joel Carlo is a multimedia

developer currently residing in
Denver, Colorado. He’s enjoyed
a professional career as an artist
over the last 14 years, which has
included work in both traditional and
digital media, web design, print, and
motion graphics for broadcasting.
This month he takes us through the
creation if his image,
“Speed Runners”...
Making Of Speed Runners
Created In:
ZBrush & Photoshop
Initial Concept
The concept illustration ‘Speed Runners’ was a
personal project, mainly geared towards helping
me get quicker results with my concept work.
At the time, I was involved in creating a series
of illustrations based on science-fiction themes
using a ZBrush to Photoshop pipeline. ‘Speed
Runners’ was a direct result of that multi-
platform experiment.
Inspiration very intrigued by the use of 3D as reference for

Process
A little over a year ago I had the opportunity to creating concept illustrations. Having the chance
When I initially began the illustration, I had
attend the Gnomon Workshop, where artists to see these professionals at work really created
been experimenting with different ways
Barontieri and David Levy had shown the the initial spark I needed to test the waters on
to design generic ship models in ZBrush
process for creating their incredibly dynamic my own. At that time I was not nearly as flexible
using a technique created by a user named
concept art. Part of that process involved the with the use of 3D applications as I would
“SaltaPiedras”, of the ZBrush Central
use of 3D software to model abstract shapes have liked, so I set out to learn what I could
forums. This technique involved the use of
which could be rendered and later composited and settled on ZBrush as my 3D application of
texture masks which could be used to create
in Photoshop. Although I had already dabbled choice, based solely on its small learning curve
deformations based on hue (Fig01, Fig02,
with a little 3D illustration, I remember being and flexibility.

Speed Runners Making Of
Fig03 and Fig04). Essentially, I would begin by
creating a rough model using ZSpheres, and
increase the geometry to very high levels. A
generic texture mask would be applied to the
model and deformations could then be created
using the deformations properties panel in
ZBrush. I took this process one step further by
exporting a high resolution render of my results
and then importing it into Photoshop where the
illustration process would take place (Fig05).
I began playing with ideas for the layout and
decided to have the ships hovering over a
desert-like environment with a backdrop of a
decayed city skyline. Additionally, I wanted to
portray an evening sky which would allow me
to play with some interesting colour variations.
Living in Colorado there has never been a
shortage of breathtaking sunsets that contain
an incredible array of colours, so I decided to
take a note from nature and incorporate colours
that would be found in a typical Colorado sunset
(Fig06 & Fig07).
With my layout and colour palette in place, I

began working on the decayed city. Because
I wanted to concentrate focus on the ships,
I created the city using simple brush strokes
and kept details down to a minimum (Fig08).
Painting the ships was a bit of trial and error.
After cutting out the ships and placing them
in the scene, I wasn’t completely satisfied
with how they sat in the composition (Fig09).
Using the Free Transform tool, I adjusted
the size of the ships until I was happy with
how they flowed inside the space. I then
accommodated the angle of the ships further
by using the perspective lines as a guide. With
the perspective in place, I duplicated the ship
layer multiple times and began playing with
the layer properties. I used several layers in
Multiply mode to adjust the contrast of the ships
and began to establish light and shadow areas
before flattening the ship layers to one single
layer. Colours were painted in several stages
using Multiply mode on separate layers, and
painting opaquely directly on the ship layer
(Fig10). White thrust and smoke were added

Making Of Speed Runners
to the rear of the ships, as well as action lines
on the floor to illustrate the sense of rapid
movement. Final details were incorporated with
the creation of swirling cloud formations and
lighting effects.
Final Thoughts
Altogether this concept illustration took less than
two hours to make; however, there are a handful
of issues with the image, including problems
with perspective, multiple light sources and
lack of overall cohesiveness. Whilst the idea
behind this type of illustration was to design

and execute a concept quickly, I always make a
habit of creating mental notes regarding these
type of mistakes so they can be avoided when
the time comes to take concept art into a fully
developed illustration.
Joel Carlo
www.joelcarlo.net
Or contact:
joelcarlo@gmail.com

Zoo Publishing presents the new issue of 3dcreative
magazine: a downloadable monthly magazine for
concept art, digital & matte painting for only $4
US
visitwww.3dcreativemag.com
to download the free ‘lite’ issue, the full issue, subscription
offers and to purchase back issues.
“I immediately knew
I wanted to create a
landscape, and I’ve
also wanted to tackle Making of Work Makes One Free
a primitive, industrial
environment. Many
ideas surfaced but
the ones I gravitated
towards revolved around
civilizations such as
ancient Egypt where
thousands were forced into
hard labour to build the
pyramids.”
With most of my digital pieces I flirt around with a painterly

style, but still strive for a sense of realism. For this project
I wanted to try something new by experimenting with
impressionism and speed...
Work Makes One Free Making of
Introduction
With having a traditional art background most
of my digital work has been primarily 3D, with
only compositing and colour correction using
Photoshop. But with this project my goal was
to rely on both 3D and 2D elements equally,
creating a true hybrid piece that would utilise
the strengths of both approaches. First I had
to find a concept that would align with my
goal. I immediately knew I wanted to create
a landscape, and I’ve also wanted to tackle a
primitive, industrial environment. Many ideas
surfaced but the ones I gravitated towards
revolved around civilizations such as ancient

Egypt where thousands were forced into hard
labour to build the pyramids. Other ideas that
came to mind were the horrible conditions
and the same slave-like scenario of the Nazi
concentration camps. In the end, I decided to
combine imagery from both of those topics.
Another goal I had before laying any paint or
vertices down was to give a sense of ambiguity
to the scenario that would allow the viewers
to pull their own conclusions. I envisioned this
landscape in a desert-like environment with
a heavy, dusty haze that would resemble an
Egyptian-like atmosphere during a dust storm.
There probably wouldn’t be a cloud in the sky
and any water source would have dried up a
long time ago. Then focusing on the civilization,
I wanted to place them in time during the age of
our Industrial Revolution to allow some of that
concentration camp imagery to peek through.
As for the creatures that were forced into hard

Making of Work Makes One Free
labour, they had to have strong lungs and even
stronger skin and muscles to survive in this
chaotic world. Perhaps mixed with selective
breeding from the “master species/race” of the
planet, they would weed out the weak and only
keep the strong. With that in mind, I wanted to
call back to the ancient Egyptians and have
these slaves carrying huge pay loads, perhaps
without even the help of machines. Now I’m
ready to dig up some references and begin
sketching some ideas out.
Step01:
Even though I wanted this project to develop
extremely quickly, I still went through my usual
process of finding some references, doing some
thumbnails, and working on the final piece. I
first dug through my photographic library and
came across an image from a film shoot (Fig01).
The cliff in the image gave me the idea that the
master species would try to build their “factories”
in the shadows and valleys, perhaps suspended
off the ground to allow cooler air/water from
below ground to siphon up. I also wanted to
include an ominous pile just outside of the
factory for the viewer to imagine what it could
be. Then, using that image as a background, I
began sketching on top of it using Sketchbook
Pro with a Tablet PC. After a few minutes on
thumbnails I began spending an hour refining
one of the images first in Sketchbook Pro, and
then colouring in Photoshop for another hour
(Fig02a - 02c). During this stage, I created

Step02:
a bridge to the factory that would allow the
To help with perspective and composition, I
“slaves” to enter by a long, gruelling march.
decided to block out the scene quickly using
Once I was happy with the overall composition
3ds Max and then paint over the geometry in
and mood I began on the final painting.
Photoshop. Using boxes and other primitives, I

Work Makes One Free Making of
constructed the factory, walkway and “cargo” for

the slaves in about an hour (Fig03). A plane with
paint deformation on it was used to simulate
the terrain. I also created a Z-pass and several
object mask images from the 3D scene to aid in
painting.
Step03:
My first step in the painting process was
playing with the global colour and general light
direction, using a soft airbrush and gradients
above the 3D image on a layer set to Overlay in
Photoshop. One thing I found helpful was “up-
rezing” my coloured thumbnail, heavily blurring
it, then playing with different layer modes
composited over the top. I also integrated the
Z-pass at this stage to simulate some of that hot
haze (Fig04).
Step04:
Once I was happy with the tonal range and
colour of the whole piece it was time to start
the rough, impressionistic details. My technique layer set to Overlay and pasted in appropriate on, I painted on a new layer, allowing me to
for rendering quickly and painterly involved textures for each material and buildings from backtrack or erase my brush work if needed
using simple, round, hard brushes with the my personal photographic library. Then, using a (Fig06). This part was definitely the most fun
Opacity set to 50-70% for light, shadows, custom smudge brush (Fig05) with the Strength and proved to be very quick in achieving an
and additional surface details. Then I set a set to 100% and with the “all layers” option impressionistic style.

Final Touches
The entire image was completed using this
process over and over again until it was done.
The painting process took a little over 5 hours
(Fig07a -c), with another 2 hours of additional
tweaking and colour correction to create the
final image.
Hopefully this breakdown was helpful in driving

into my thought process and techniques for
realising and rendering a concept in a relatively
quick amount of time.
Thanks for reading!
Brian Recktenwald
www.brianrecktenwald.com
Or contact:
breckten@gmail.com
With the release of 3DTotal’s new book,
‘Digital Art Masters: Volume 2’, we have
some exclusive chapters for you...
The book is more than just an artwork

book, as not only does it feature
full-colour, full-page images, but each artist
has described in detail the creation process
behind each published artwork, in their
own words, especially for this book.
This month we feature:
‘Bang On Time’
by Michael R Smith
The following shots of the ‘Bang On Time’ book pages are featured here in full-resolution and can be read by zooming in!
The following shots of the ‘Bang On Time’ book pages are featured here in full-resolution and can be read by zooming in!
2DArtist readers can purchase

Digital Art Masters: Volume 1 & 2 with a special 10% Discount
To claim your discount simply purchase here:

http://www.3dtotal.com/books/
(Note: if a security dialogue box appears, tick ‘Remember’, then click ‘Allow’.)
SUBSCRIBE
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link delivered automatically to your inbox
every month...
...and have it before anyone else!
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Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine

Issue023 November 2007 $4.50 / €3.24 / £2.25
image : Keiran Yanner Artist

next month
Interviews
Jason (Wei Che) Juan
Morgan Yon
Midway Games
Luis Melo
Articles
Sketchbook of Matt Dangler
What artwork has moved you
emotionally/mentally, and why?
Tutorials
Custom Brushes
Speed Painting
Elements Weather Series
Snowstorm!
Galleries
10 of the Best images featuring
Kerem Beyit
Kieran Yanner
Tiberius Viris
Teng lin
Pascal Raimbault
John Wallin Liberto
Robin Olausson
Marcin Jakubowski
Daniel Ljunggren
Plus Loads More!

All for only $4!
go to www.2dartistmag.com for full
details and to purchase current, back
issues and 6 & 12 month subscriptions
Image by John Wallin Liberto

“You’ve read the articles, you’ve learnt from the
tutorials, now get the Job you’ve always wanted!”
Employers! If you have a position that could be potentially filled by one of 3DCreative Magazine’s 20,000+ talented readers and
would like to advertsie here then please contact lynette@zoopublishing.com
Recruitment
Krome Studios is Australia’s largest

game development studio. We now
boast 4 project teams, over 200 talented
people and an increasing presence in the
worldwide game development industry.
We are always looking for talented and

experienced game developers to join
our teams.
If you share our passion for games

and would like to work on high
profile titles in conjunction with
the top 5 publishers in the world.
– We want to hear from you!
For more information on available

positions and how to apply
please visit our website:
www.kromestudios.com
TY the Tasmanian Tiger and the Krome Studios logo are trademarks of Krome Studios Pty, Ltd. © 2006 Universal Interactive, Inc. Spyro and related
characters are™ and © Universal Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.

Recruitment
Give yourself a flying start

As a specialist recruiter to the video games and interactive entertainment
market, Aardvark Swift are committed to help you find your dream job.
Established in 1989, Aardvark Swift is the UK’s longest

established interactive entertainment recruitment
consultancy. The market leader in the video games
industry, Aardvark specialises in finding the best in
industry talent in a vast range of creative roles for both the
console and mobile games markets.
Whether you are an Artist, Animator, Designer or Producer,

we have the perfect role available for you in what is a fast-
paced and exciting industry. We have roles both in the UK
and abroad (as far a field as Australia!), so if you are looking
for your next exciting challenge, and want to enjoy an
excellent salary, benefits and work environment, give us a
call and we’ll be more than happy to help you out!
Web www.aswift.com Tel 01709 876877

Aardvark Swift Recruitment Silicon House, Farfield Park,
Rotherham, South Yorkshire S63 5DB

Recruitment
Crouching Artist:
Hidden Talent?
www.opmjobs.com
General Enquiries: OPM Response Ltd, 15 Peartree Business Centre,
Stanway, Colchester CO3 0JN Tel: 01206 544044 Fax: 01206 547198
Artwork copyright of Rebeca Puebla Sangyeng
Nest Egg Studios Inc. has an online work CURRENT OPENINGS:

environment that promotes diversity,
embraces change and is looking for those • Storyboard Artist
that understand the risk in working in an • Character / Creature Concept Artist
“startup” environment, able to exude • Architectural Concept Artist Would you like to advertise your jobs here
unnerving commitment to the quality • Environment Concept Artist
development of its products. • Texture Artist for free?
• User Interface Artist Contact : lynette@zoopublishing.com
We are on a fast track within the game • Layout Artist
industry and are seeking highly skilled • Graphic Artist (PR /Marketing etc)
individuals to take us even further. • Community Manager
So if you are looking to get your
“foot in the door”, or are a professional
wanting to support a “independent studio”,
and aare a highly motivated individual that
welcomes new challenges . . . . .
We have your next GREAT OPPORTUNITY!
REQUIREMENTS:
Spoken / Written Language: English
Compensation: Phantom Equity + Credit
Work Environment: Online
Portfolio/demo equivalent with resume
& cover letter accepted and preferred:
Email to jobs@nesteggstudios.com
(or)
Mail materials (DVD or CD) to:
Attn: Artist Openings
Nest Egg Studios Inc.
P.O. Box 1235
Burlington, Vermont USA 05402-1235

Zoo Publishing About us
Is a company publishing downloadable online

magazines. We are based in the West Midlands
in the UK. Zoo currently produces two online
downloadable magazines: 3DCreative and
2DArtist. Zoo’s intention is to make each issue
as full of great articles, images, interviews and
tutorials, as possible. If you would like more
information on Zoo Publishing or our magazines,
or you have a question for our staff, please use
the links below.
Contact Information
www.zoopublishing.com
www.3dcreativemag.com
www.2dartistmag.com
Editor > Lynette Clee
lynette@zoopublishing.com
Lead Designer >Chris Perrins
chris@zoopublishing.com
Content Manager > Lynette Clee
Marketing > Lynette Clee
Partners
If you have a CG Community website and would
be interested in reselling 3DCreative or 2DArtist
magazine, please contact Lynette Clee on the
email address above.

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Issue023 November 2007 $4.50 / €3.24 / £2.

Challenge topic! Turn

Enjoy! Ed. Creating & Applying 104

Editor Content Elements 111

Designer Richard Tilbury

Chris Perrins Chris Perrins Speed Runners 125

www.2dartistmag.com page  Issue 023 November 2007

Dwayne Would You Like To Contribute To

www.2dartistmag.com page  Issue 023 November 2007

San Francisco with a BFA in & Illustrator from NJ, USA.

traditional illustration, Daarken Currently, Mike produces assets

began his career by freelancing as a Freelance artist for various

with several game companies, such as Wizards companies, including everything

www.2dartistmag.com page  Issue 023 November 2007

image by Nathaniel West

www.2dartistmag.com page  Issue 023 November 2007

Hello Elena, can you tell us a bit about what has

Actually, everything began in Russia, where

and I am also a graduate from the Academy

One day, I realised that I couldn’t take it any

www.2dartistmag.com page  Issue 023 November 2007

bring an idea or a character to life – the rest is

For example, in the image titled “Fiery Jack”, the

I must confess that the way in which I work is

Let’s take the following illustration, of an old

www.2dartistmag.com page  Issue 023 November 2007

From start to finish, I do everything using my Wacom tablet and Adobe

www.2dartistmag.com page  Issue 023 November 2007

you can see, first of all I choose the background

Your characters appear to be rather cute,

What is going to be the next ‘masterpiece’?

www.2dartistmag.com page 10 Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page 12 Issue 023 November 2007

You mention on your website that you’re

‘Volume 1 & 2’ of 3DTotal’s book series, featured

‘Digital Art Masters: Volume 3’ will again be showcas-

Schedule and Calendar for all submissions is availble

Hello Koshime, could you tell us a bit about

Could you tell us why you decided to set up

of experienced concept artists and friends. The meaning behind Opus

www.2dartistmag.com page 16 Issue 023 November 2007

upon two careers in parallel over the next eight

www.2dartistmag.com page 17 Issue 023 November 2007

entertainment industry. Ultimately, I love both

So are your artistic talents self-taught or did you

www.2dartistmag.com page 18 Issue 023 November 2007

the exploration of the local planets/galaxy, but

What and/or who are your main sources of

You sound like an incredibly busy man! So when

www.2dartistmag.com page 20 Issue 023 November 2007

living domestic bliss with my wife, be it at

Well it has been a pleasure talking with you and

www.2dartistmag.com page 21 Issue 023 November 2007

Available Now Only!

Features 58 of the finest digital

Buy the book to see just

Nathaniel West is a freelance

some may believe it or not. I have been very

www.2dartistmag.com page 24 Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page 25 Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page 28 Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page 29 Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page 30 Issue 023 November 2007

PAINT A NEW PICTURE WITH A 3DBOXX

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www.2dartistmag.com page Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page Issue 023 November 2007

www.2dartistmag.com page Issue 023 November 2007